Motorola today officially became two separate companies, with Motorola Solutions trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “MSI” and Motorola Mobility Holdings under the symbol “MMI.”
Under the terms of the distribution, which was completed today, Motorola Inc. stockholders received one share of Motorola Mobility Holdings common stock for every eight shares of Motorola Inc. common stock they held. Immediately following the distribution of Motorola Mobility Holdings common stock, Motorola Inc. completed a 1-for-7 reverse stock split.
Greg Brown will head Motorola Solutions as president and CEO. Sanjay Jha has assumed the position as president and CEO of Motorola Mobility.
Motorola hired Jha in 2008 to head its ailing handset division, which struggled to find its footing in the competitive smartphone market after the success of the Motorola Razr. Jha became co-CEO aside Brown, who took over Motorola’s network division.
Jha steered the company’s handset division toward an exclusive concentration on Google’s Android operating system and managed break-out successes in the smartphone market with devices such as the Motorola Droid and Motorola Droid X.
Jha and members of the Motorola Mobility management team were set to ring the Opening Bell at the NYSE today in honor of the initiation of trading. Brown and members of the Motorola Solutions management team will ring the Closing Bell.
Shares of Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions first began trading last month on a “when issued” basis, which helps stabilize the opening price for new stocks.
Motorol’s stock from the combined company, listed under the ticker symbol MOT, continued to trade until today and is no longer listed on the NYSE.
