Icahn Ups Stake In Motorola To 6.3 Percent

Activist investor Carl Icahn has raised his stake in handset maker Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to 6.3 percent from 5 percent, reports Reuters, citing a filing with the SEC. Icahn, who has been pushing for a break up of Motorola, now owns 142.36 million shares in the company, for which he has paid a total of $2.06 billion, including commissions. Icahn told Reuters (NSDQ: RTRSY) that he thought shares in the struggling handset maker were "extremely cheap right now," adding that, "today, you are really buying a handheld division for nothing." In late January, Motorola said it was considering either spinning off their handset division, or selling it. It has struggled, however, to find interested parties, with rivals Samsung, LG (SEO: 066570), Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC) all saying they would not consider an acquisition.

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