Behind the Zebra-Motorola acquisition

You wouldn’t call it David acquires Goliath, because in the Biblical story, the little guy slays the big guy. Meanwhile, the acquisition of Motorola Solutions ($2.5 billion in revenue/4,500 employees) by Zebra Technologies ($1 billion in revenue/2,000 employees) is a friendly deal all the way around. The deal was the result of a competitive process put in motion by Motorola Solutions last year. Credit a tough economy and favorable lending rates for making it possible. “We were pleased we were able to walk away with these assets,” says Phil Gerskovich, Zebra’s senior vice president of new growth platforms.“In different economic times, we wouldn’t have been able to do this deal, but with low interest rates, it made sense.”

Still, it is anything but an acquisition of equals, and Zebra will have its hands full integrating a company that is 2-1/2 times its size.

That’s one of the most important takeaways from the announcement the other day that Zebra Technologies plans to acquire Motorola Solution’s enterprise business.

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