UPDATE: Nokia Siemens: China Has Approved Motorola Assets Acquisition

Chinese regulators have approved Nokia Siemens Networks' planned acquisition of most of Motorola Solutions Inc.'s (MSI) network equipment assets, a spokeswoman for Nokia Siemens said Thursday.

Nokia Siemens Networks, the joint venture between Finland's Nokia Corp. (NOK) and Germany's Siemens (SI) agreed to buy the bulk of Motorola's network equipment business for $1.2 billion in July last year, but the deal has been awaiting approval from China' Ministry of Commerce, which has the authority to review foreign mergers on anti-trust grounds.

The deal had been held up by objections from Chinese telecom equipment vendor Huawei Technologies Co., but Huawei dropped its objections as part of a sweeping settlement between the two companies last week to drop suits filed against each other over intellectual property issues.

Privately held Huawei took legal action in January to delay the Nokia Siemens deal, arguing that Motorola has sold Huawei-branded gear in the past, and that its intellectual property could therefore be transferred to rival Nokia Siemens through the planned acquisition.

Under last week's settlement, Huawei agreed to drop its objections to the Nokia deal in exchange for a one-time fee for use of its technology.

Motorola, meanwhile, agreed to drop its claims that Huawei had stolen its intellectual property via an elaborate scheme involving former Motorola employees and a front company.

The deal has now received all the regulatory approvals that it requires, Nokia Siemens spokeswoman Riita Mard said Thursday, adding that the company aims to close the deal by April 29.

Spokespeople for the Ministry of Commerce weren't immediately available for comment.

-By Owen Fletcher and Aaron Back, Dow Jones Newswires; (8610) 8400-7702; owen.fletcher@dowjones.com

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