Huawei blocks NSN-Motorola deal

Huawei has won a temporary block on Nokia Siemens Network’s $1.2 billion (€879 million) acquisition of Motorola’s infrastructure assets while a US district court determines whether the deal includes some of the Chinese vendor’s IP.
 
Motorola Mobility Holdings has been ordered not to disclose any confidential information regarding Huawei’s GSM, UMTS and other networking technologies which was passed to the US firm under a decade-old co-operation deal.
 
Huawei sought a preliminary injunction on the transfer of disputed assets to NSN in a lawsuit filed against Motorola yesterday, claiming it will suffer irreparable commercial damage if the deal goes ahead as it stands, and asking for arbitration of the matter.
 
The Chinese vendor claims Motorola has failed to respond to its requests for assurances the IP would not be transferred as part of the sale, which it has made since NSN announced the acquisition in July.
 
Huawei’s filing explains that NSN is a direct competitor, and states that the transfer “will result in the massive disclosure of Huawei’s confidential information,” to the European firm.
 
The move is the latest set-back to the closing of NSN’s acquisition after Chinese anti monopoly regulators delayed the deal in late December.
 
NSN originally hoped to conclude the transaction by end-2010, having gained approval from antitrust regulators in several global markets, but is now targeting completion by the end of the current calendar quarter.
 
Motorola spokeswoman Tama McWhinney said the firm believes the “lawsuit is without merit,” and said the firm was still targeting completion of the sale “in early 2011 following receipt of approval from China’s antitrust authorities.”