China Delays Nokia Siemens' Acquisition of Motorola Assets

China’s antitrust regulator extended its review of Motorola Solutions Inc.’s sale of its network-equipment business to Nokia Siemens Networks, delaying a second time a $1.2 billion deal that is integral to Motorola’s restructuring.

The 60-day extension by China’s Commerce Ministry was the latest in a series of tussles between U.S. and China in the telecommunications sector. A U.S. panel that vets deals with national-security implications last month forced Chinese telecom-equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. to unwind a $2 million deal for technology company 3Leaf Systems. Huawei and Motorola, meanwhile, are tangled in a pair of lawsuits over intellectual property.

U.S.-based Motorola and Nokia Siemens, a joint venture of Finland’s Nokia Corp. and Germany’s Siemens AG, said they remain committed to closing the deal. A spokesperson for Motorola said the company expects the deal to close in the second quarter. The companies originally had expected the sale, announced in July, to close last year. More recently, they said the deal would close in the first quarter.

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