Taiwan-based BenQ Group will acquire Siemens' entire mobile phone business with more than 6,000 employees worldwide in a deal valued at $429 million. The business will be headquartered in Munich. The closing of the deal is expected in the fourth quarter of Siemens' fiscal year 2005. Siemens will invest in BenQ, which produces mobile phones in addition to other consumer electronic products such as digital cameras, scanners and LCD screens, by purchasing shares of the company. The transaction also includes the rights to the Siemens brand and name, which BenQ will be allowed to use for a total of five years. BenQ was known as Acer Communication & Multimedia, the peripherals manufacturing unit of Acer, until it was spun off from the parent company in 2001.
For more details on the Siemens/BenQ deal:
- read this AP story