Motorola Solution agrees to sell enterprise unit to Zebra Technologies for $3.45 billion

A leader in barcode printing, Zebra Technologies offers solutions that let enterprises automatically track assets, personnel and transactions to enhance visibility into the supply chain. In 2013, the company reported sales of $1.0 billion, while the Motorola Solutions enterprise unit generated $2.5 billion in sales during the same period.

About 4,500 Motorola Solutions employees are expected to join Zebra Technologies when the transaction is complete later this year. In addition, Zebra Technologies is expected to benefit from about 20,000 channel partners in more than 100 countries and an intellectual-property portfolio that includes about 4,500 patents issued and pending globally.

“This acquisition will transform Zebra into a leading provider of solutions that deliver greater intelligence and insights into our customers’ enterprises and extended value chains,” Zebra Technologies CEO Anders Gustafsson said. “The enterprise business will generate significant value for our shareholders by driving further product innovation and deeper engagement with our customers and partners. It positions Zebra as a leading technology innovator, with the accelerating convergence of mobility, data analytics and cloud computing.”

Brown said he believes the combination of the Motorola enterprise assets and Zebra Technologies will be formidable.

“Our enterprise business is an ideal fit for Zebra,” Brown said.

For channel partners with enterprise customers, the transition from Motorola Solutions to Zebra Technologies should be a smooth one, according to Gorecki.

“It is business as usual, as Motorola Solutions works closely with Zebra on a smooth integration plan,” Gorecki said. “This acquisition combines the complementary offerings of two industry leaders.  Most of Motorola Solutions’ Enterprise partners are also Zebra partners today, so this acquisition will bring two of their key vendors together into a single relationship.