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Zebra to buy Motorola enterprise unit for $3.45B

Zebra Technologies snaps up Motorola Solutions' enterprise unit, which makes mobile devices and barcode scanners, for $3.45 billion in cash.

Charlie Osborne Contributing Writer
Charlie Osborne is a cybersecurity journalist and photographer who writes for ZDNet and CNET from London. PGP Key: AF40821B.
Charlie Osborne
2 min read

Zebra Technologies will take on Motorola Solutions' enterprise unit, a maker of mobile devices for businesses, for $3.45 billion in cash.

Zebra Logo
Zebra Technologies

The all-cash deal, which was reportedly agreed to in the past few days, is expected to be completed by the end of 2014, the companies announced Tuesday.

Zebra specializes in barcode, receipt, kiosk, and radio frequency identification (RFID) printers and supplies for businesses. The Lincolnshire, Illinois-based firm provides tracking technology to companies worldwide, from helping Amazon track inventory to building human-tracking gadgets, which help athletes assess their performance.

The company says it is a provider of technologies that "allow customers to take smarter actions," and "provide greater visibility into mission-critical information."

Motorola Solutions' enterprise unit not only produces mobile devices including tablets for the corporate market, but also sells barcode scanners to retailers worldwide.

The technologies fall under the Internet of Things (IoT) -- the idea of connecting and tracking physical goods through networks and the Web. Zebra's acquisition may be related to the launch of Zebra's Zatar unit in 2013, which focuses on helping businesses use IoT to improve operations. In a press release at the time, Zebra said:

"The increased use of cloud computing and the ubiquity of wireless networks have made connecting devices and sensors more appealing and cost-efficient. This has fueled the rapid growth of the Internet of Things and the race to connect devices and sensors that can be remotely monitored, managed and mined for valuable data."

In December, Zebra acquired Hart Systems, a provider of cloud-based physical inventory management solutions, for approximately $94 million in cash.

Zebra's shares are down about 6 percent at $63.77 at the time of this report, while Motorola Solutions' stock was down about 1 percent at $63.13.

This story originally appeared as "Zebra Technologies buys Motorola enterprise unit for $3.5bn" on ZDNet. It has been slightly modified to reflect new information.