BEIJING (AP) — Chinese regulators have approved the acquisition of Motorola Solutions Inc.'s network business by Nokia Siemens Networks and the $975 million deal should close next week, Nokia Corp. says.
The sale was part of Motorola's restructuring but was delayed after Beijing launched an anti-monopoly investigation.
Chinese regulators gave "unconditional approval," clearing the last regulatory obstacle, and the deal will close April 29, Nokia announced Thursday.
Nokia Siemens Networks is the network equipment-making joint venture of Nokia and Germany's Siemens AG.
The Chinese approval also follows the settlement of a lawsuit in U.S. federal court against Motorola by a Chinese network equipment maker, Huawei Technologies. Huawei said the deal could mean that its business secrets would end up with Nokia Siemens, a competitor, because Motorola resold Huawei equipment starting in 2000.
In the April 13 settlement, Motorola Solutions agreed to pay Huawei an undisclosed fee to transfer its contracts to Nokia Siemens. The deal allows Nokia Siemens to use confidential Huawei information to service networks that Motorola deployed using Huawei's technologies.