Siemens AG said on Tuesday that it will sell its struggling mobile phone unit to Taiwan's BenQ, capping months of talks about the unit.
The terms of the deal were not announced, but the decision to sell the unit was in contrast to the Munich-based company's desire to form a joint venture. Approval is still needed from BenQ's shareholders as well as regulatory agencies in Europe.
Siemens said in April that it planned to spin off and sell a majority stake in its cellphone unit amid declining sales and losses, including $169.6 million in the second quarter.
"With this partnership, we have found a sustainable perspective for our mobile phone business," said Siemens chief executive Klaus Kleinfeld.
Other likely partners for Siemens had included Motorola Inc and South Korea's LG Electronics Inc and Samsung Corp.
BenQ is Taiwan's biggest maker of mobile phones, selling them under its own name in China. It also manufactures phones for Motorola and NEC Corp. The company was spun off from electronics company Acer Inc in 2001.
BenQ will use the Siemens brand for as long as five years while the German company will keep hold of its cordless phone business.
BenQ chairman and CEO K Y Lee added: "With the acquisition of Siemens's mobile phones business, we are rapidly approaching our goal to become one of the world's leading players in the mobile phone industry."
BenQ said the unit would remain headquartered in Munich.
