Motorola Solutions, having been split from its handset arm in 2011, is expanding its device business again. It’s not going to become a rival to its former stablemate, now part of Google though ‘ it is acquiring Psion to expand its existing range of rugged and industrial devices.
The purchase of UK-based Psion for £129.3m ($200m) builds on Motorola’s most venerable business, in walkie-talkie radios and other specialized devices mainly for public safety markets. It also marks the end of a player which was very influential in the mobile world, often from behind the scenes. Psion was an early designer of personal digital assistants, which along with firms like Palm introduced the idea of mobile data to the world. And it contributed most of the technology to the Symbian operating system, which dominated the first generation of smartphones, before the advent of the touch-based platforms.
In more recent years, Psion reverted to a device-only model. It exited Symbian, and sold its remaining software business, in email, to Visto in 2003. It bolstered its hardware activities by buying rugged handset maker Teklogix in 2000, and the following year pulled out of consumer segments to focus on industrial and enterprise offerings. These will complement Motorola’s existing products and take them into a broader range of verticals. Key products from the combined group will be the Motorola ET1 business tablet, the Psion EP10 low end organizer and Omnii industrial devices.
Motorola is paying 88p ($1.36) a share, a 46% premium on Psion’s closing price on Thursday. The London-based company has about 830 employees, customers in more than 50 countries and had 2011 revenue of £176m ($273m).
‘Psion is a compelling opportunity to strengthen our industry leading, mobile computing portfolio with ruggedized handheld products and vehicle-mount terminals that will deepen our presence in the global markets in which we compete,’ said Motorola CEO Greg Brown. The firm said the deal would boost its margins once cost and revenue synergies were realized, and should add to earnings in the first full year.