Motorola Solutions buying $1.17B shares from Icahn

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (AP) — Motorola Solutions Inc. is buying about $1.17 billion of its stock back from billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

The company, which sells communications equipment to government and corporate customers, also said Monday that board member Vincent Intrieri will resign as part of the transaction. Intrieri is general partner of Icahn Enterprises LP and an Icahn Enterprises G.P. Inc. director.

Motorola Solutions is purchasing approximately 23.7 million of its shares from Icahn at $49.15 apiece under an existing $3 billion repurchase program. Icahn will still hold a stake in the company once the transaction is complete.

The price of the buyback was 28 cents per share below Friday's close of $49.43 for Motorola Solutions. The company's stock fell 60 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $48.83 in morning trading Monday.

Icahn is known for buying and shaking up struggling companies, with mixed success. He pushed the original Motorola Inc. to split up, figuring that investors would find its parts more valuable than the whole. Motorola split into two companies in January 2011. Motorola Mobility consists of the consumer-focused cellphone and cable set-top box operations. Motorola Solutions Inc. sells products like police radios and bar-code scanners.

Motorola Solutions is based in Schaumburg, Ill., while Icahn Enterprises is located in New York.