Motorola Solutions, the leading global provider of innovative mission-critical communications solutions for public safety and commercial customers, announced that Silver Lake, the global leader in technology
investing, will make a $1 billion investment in Motorola Solutions.
The company expects to use the Silver Lake investment to accelerate growth in its smart public safety solutions and services businesses through new partnerships, investments and acquisitions.
“Silver Lake has a proven track record of creating value by partnering with leading technology companies around the world,” said Greg Brown, chairman and CEO of Motorola Solutions. “This strategic partnership and investment combine Silver Lake’s expertise in technology products, services and information solutions with our vision to create safer communities and more successful businesses. It represents a strong vote of confidence in our company’s strategy and future growth opportunities.”
Motorola Solutions serves more than 100,000 customers in 100 countries, including local, state and national public safety agencies as well as businesses in industries such as utilities, mining and transportation. The company’s communications technology portfolio includes devices used by professionals in the field, problem-solving software that drives effectiveness, mission-critical systems for command centers, network infrastructure and a range of services.
In connection with Silver Lake’s investment, Egon Durban and Greg Mondre, managing partners of Silver Lake, will be appointed to Motorola Solutions’ board of directors when the transaction closes, which is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2015.
“Motorola Solutions is an iconic company and the global market leader in public safety technology,” said Durban and Mondre. “We believe it is creating a new era in data-rich public safety communications and has significant potential for growth. Its core business is unrivaled in the United States and around the world with a broad and loyal customer base, an outstanding record of reliability, and growing reach and scale driven by technology innovation. Greg Brown and his talented management team have a strong record of performance and corporate transformation that has created exciting new opportunities to innovate and expand the company’s next-generation software, smart public safety and service offerings.”
Brown added, “The addition of Egon and Greg will provide our board with valuable insight and expertise as we grow through new partnerships, investments and acquisitions. Both have a history of working closely with management teams to create value by identifying and delivering unique business opportunities in the technology industry.”
Durban is a managing partner and managing director of Silver Lake, which he joined in 1999 as a founding principal. He is based in the firm's Menlo Park, Calif., office and has previously worked in the New York office as well as the London office, which he launched and managed from 2005 to 2010. Durban serves on the board of directors of Dell and Intelsat S.A., and is chairman of the board of directors of WME Entertainment. Durban graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor’s degree in finance.
Mondre joined Silver Lake in 1999 and is a managing partner and managing director based in New York. He currently serves as a director of Avaya, Inc., Go Daddy, Inc., Red Ventures, Sabre Holdings and Vantage Data Centers, and is on the operating committee of SunGard Capital Corp. Mondre graduated from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
Motorola Solutions also announced its intent to repurchase up to $2 billion of stock through a tender offer, reflecting confidence in the future value of the business while maintaining considerable financial flexibility to pursue further growth. The company will fund the tender offer with a combination of existing cash on the company’s balance sheet and a portion of the proceeds from the $1 billion strategic investment by Silver Lake.
Under the terms of the agreement, Silver Lake is purchasing $1 billion aggregate principal amount of 2.0 percent convertible senior notes due 2020 with an initial conversion price of $68.50 per share. The initial conversion price represents a conversion premium of 17.0 percent over the volume-weighted average price of the company’s common stock sale price of $58.55 per share on the New York Stock Exchange during the 30 trading days ended Aug. 4, 2015.
Additional information may be found in the Form 8-K that will be filed with the U.S. Securities
About Motorola Solutions
Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI) creates innovative, mission-critical communication solutions and services that help public safety and commercial customers build safer cities and thriving communities. For ongoing news, visit www.motorolasolutions.com/newsroom or subscribe to a news feed.
About Silver Lake
Silver Lake is the global leader in technology investing, with over $26 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital. The firm’s portfolio of investments collectively generates more than $85 billion of revenue annually and employs more than 170,000 people globally. Silver Lake has a team of approximately 100 investment and value creation professionals located in New York, Menlo Park, San Mateo, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The firm’s current portfolio includes leading technology and technology-enabled businesses such as
Alibaba Group, Avago, Avaya, Dell, Global Blue, Go Daddy, Hillstone Networks, Intelsat, Interactive Data Corporation, Qunar, Quorum Business Solutions, Red Ventures, Sabre, SMART Modular, SunGard, Vantage Data Centers, Virtu Financial and WME/IMG.
For more information about Silver Lake and its entire portfolio, please visit www.silverlake.com.
