US firm Motorola will acquire Symbol Technologies for about $3.9 billion in a deal that expands the world's second-largest mobile phone maker's presence in the market for business-oriented mobile devices, an Associated Press report said.
The report said the deal for Symbol, which made portable bar-code scanners and customized handheld computers, was expected to close in late 2006 or early 2007, pending regulator clearance and approval by Symbol shareholders.
Schaumburg-based Motorola said it would pay $15 per Symbol share, 18% higher than Symbol's closing price of $12.71, before weekend news reports of an impending deal helped boost the stock to $14.67, the report said.
Symbol produces mobile devices for rugged business environments, as well as equipment based on the emerging wireless technology known as RFID, which is used for inventory tracking and other purposes.
Motorola would make Symbol the "cornerstone" of the company's enterprise mobility business, the Associated Press report said.