Siemens sells its phone division to Benq

Siemens has officially announced today the sale of its wireless phone division to the Taiwanese BenQ. The acquisition includes more than 6,000 Siemens employees worldwide, manufacturing operation on threee continents and will allows BenQ to use Siemens brand name for 5 years. With the sale, BenQ will be able to expand its strong Asian position to other markets like Latin America and Europe.

BenQ will be acquiring all of Siemens' development and manufacturing locations in Manaus (Brazil) and Kamp-Lintfort (Germany), along with headquarters functions as well as the sales and marketing organization. The factory in Shanghai (China), which is operated as a joint venture together with a Chinese partner, will also remain a development and manufacturing location. BenQ guarantees full utilization of the capacity at the location for a period of three years. Subject to the agreement of our partner in this joint venture, BenQ will also take over this capacity in the next step.

The closing of the deal is expected in the fourth quarter of Siemens' fiscal year 2005.
 

Source: Siemens.com