Motorola Solutions announces $1 billion investment from Silver Lake private-equity firm

Motorola Solutions yesterday announced that it will receive a $1 billion investment from Silver Lake—a private-equity firm focused on the technology sector—and plans to repurchase as much as $2 billion in stock through a tender offer.

Motorola Solutions Chairman and CEO Greg Brown described the Silver Lake partnership as “an endorsement of our strategy and a strong vote of confidence in our future growth opportunities.” The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, at which time Silver Lake Managing Partners Egon Durban and Greg Mondre will be appointed to the Motorola Solutions board of directors.

“The partnership combines Silver Lake’s technology expertise and track record with our brand, market reach, and public-safety technology platforms around the world,” Brown said during yesterday’s second-quarter earnings call, which was webcast.

“I’m pleased that Silver Lake Managing Partners Egon Durban and Greg Mondre will be appointed to the Motorola Solutions Board of Directors. They both have a history of driving growth, creating value and bringing teams together to identify and deliver unique business opportunities in the technology industry.”

Motorola Solutions plans to use the Silver Lake investment to help Motorola Solutions realize its strategic focus  on smart public-safety solutions and services, Brown said.

“I think the Silver Lake partnership is right in the sweet spot of extending and accelerating our existing strategy in this regard,” he said. “I think they bring significant expertise in technology products and information solutions. They’re smart, they’re savvy, I think they’ll help us on surgical [mergers and acquisitions] as well, both in terms of looking at the funnel of opportunity and executing on good deals potentially to supplement and complement what we already have there.”

Durban and Mondre expressed optimism about the future of Motorola Solutions.

“Motorola Solutions is an iconic company and the global market leader in public-safety technology,” Durban and Mondre said in a prepared statement. “We believe it is creating a new era in data-rich public safety communications and has significant potential for growth.

“Its core business is unrivaled in the United States and around the world with a broad and loyal customer base, an outstanding record of reliability, and growing reach and scale driven by technology innovation. Greg Brown and his talented management team have a strong record of performance and corporate transformation that has created exciting new opportunities to innovate and expand the company’s next-generation software, smart public safety and service offerings.”

Under the terms of the Silver Lake deal, the private-equity will buy $1 billion of Motorola Solutions convertible senior notes due 2020 with an initial conversion price of 68.50 per share—a 17% premium compared to average price of Motorola Solutions’ stock for 30 trading days ended on Aug. 4, according to a Motorola Solutions press release.