Motorola Solutions, Inc. is an American video equipment, telecommunications equipment, software, systems and services provider that succeeded Motorola, Inc., following the spinoff of the mobile phone division into Motorola Mobility in 2011. The company is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
History
Motorola Solutions began trading as a separate independent company on January 4, 2011, under the NYSE symbol MSI. In April 2011, Motorola Solutions completed the sale of its cellular infrastructure business to Nokia Siemens Networks for $975 million in cash. As part of the transaction, approximately 6,900 employees were transferred to Nokia Siemens Networks. The same month, Chinese telecommunications company Huawei and Motorola Solutions settled their intellectual property disputes.
In 2012, Motorola Solutions purchased Psion for $200 million and added it to its Enterprise business. A large majority of the Enterprise business was formerly Symbol Technologies, which Motorola, Inc. had acquired in 2007. On October 27, 2014, Motorola Solutions sold its Enterprise business to Zebra Technologies for $3.45 billion in cash. As part of the sale, approximately 4,500 Motorola Solutions employees from locations throughout the world were transferred to Zebra.
In August 2015, the company received a $1 billion investment from the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, enabling a stock buyback and providing Silver Lake with two board seats.
In December 2015, the company announced that it would acquire Airwave Solutions, the UK-based operator of the British public safety radio network servicing the police, fire, and ambulance services across England, Scotland, and Wales. The company completed the acquisition on February 19, 2016.
Beginning in March 2017, Motorola Solutions filed a series of lawsuits against China-based two-way radio manufacturer Hytera in the United States, Germany, and Australia, as well as with the United States International Trade Commission (USITC). The complaints allege that Hytera is intentionally infringing on patents owned by Motorola Solutions and utilizing trade secrets stolen by three former Motorola Solutions employees who left to join Hytera. Motorola Solutions is seeking to stop Hytera from selling and importing its devices in these countries. In April 2017, the USITC announced that it had decided to institute an investigation into Hytera's trade practices.
In August 2017, Motorola Solutions announced it completed the acquisition of Kodiak Networks, a privately held provider of broadband push-to-talk (PTT) for commercial customers.
In December 2017, two-way radio manufacturer Hytera filed antitrust litigation against Motorola Solutions in alleging that Motorola Solutions is engaging in anti-competitive practices that are unlawful under the Sherman Act and Clayton Act. Hytera's complaint alleges that Motorola Solutions prevents Hytera from competing in the U.S. marketplace by enforcing inflated prices and engaging in a monopolistic scheme that includes forcing LMR dealers to drop Hytera's products.
In March 2018, Motorola Solutions acquired Avigilon for about $1 billion.
In March 2018, Motorola Solutions acquired Plant Holdings, Inc., which holds the Airbus DS Communications business, from Airbus Defense and Space, Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Airbus SE.
In January 2019, the company acquired Livermore, California-based VaaS International Holdings, and its subsidiary, license plate reading technology company Vigilant Solutions, for $445 million.
In July 2019, the company acquired WatchGuard Inc.
In July 2020, the company acquired IndigoVision.
In August 2020, the company acquired Pelco Inc. A California-based Video Security company for $110M in cash from Transom Capital. Pelco was previously a Schneider Electric brand.
In September 2020, the company acquired Polaris Networks, a global wireless technologies solutions provider.
In July 2021, the company acquired Openpath Security Inc., a cloud-based, mobile access control provider, for an undisclosed sum.
In November 2021, the company acquired Envysion, a provider of enterprise video security and business analytics for the retail industry.
In March 2022, the company acquired Ava Security Limited, a UK-based global provider of cloud-native video security and analytics.
In April 2022, the company acquired Calipsa, a UK-based video analytics start-up.
In May 2022, the company acquired Videotec, an Italy-based video security manufacturer.
In August 2022, the company acquired Barrett Communications, an Australia-based HF/VHF communications systems provider.