Analyst: Motorola break-up now more likely
Motorola Inc.'s new finance chief has a history of deal-making, boosting the chances the company will sell its mobile-phone business, Lehman Brothers analyst Jeff Kvaal said.
Paul Liska, named Thursday to the post, starts March 1. He has been a partner at private-equity firms MidOcean Partners LLP and Ripplewood Holdings LLC, chairman of US Freightways and chief financial officer of Sears, Roebuck & Co.
Motorola lost its spot as the world's second-biggest handset maker last year as customers defected to Apple Inc. and Nokia Oyj, prompting billionaire investor Carl Icahn to demand Motorola split off the unit. The company may strike a deal with Icahn before a shareholder meeting in May, Kvaal wrote.
The management change "clears the path for a compromise with Carl Icahn and a split of the company," wrote Kvaal, who is based in New York and recommends investors buy the stock.
Motorola, based in Schaumburg, added 8 cents to $11.36 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading Friday. The stock has lost 29 percent this year.
Liska was also executive chairman of USF Corp., the second- biggest U.S. regional trucker, from 2004 to 2006, managing its takeover for $1.37 billion by YRC Worldwide Inc. At Sears, he ran the company's credit and financial services unit until it was bought by Citigroup Inc. in 2003.
"He's clearly done a lot of mergers and acquisitions and divestiture activity," Morgan Keegan & Co. analyst Tavis McCourt said. "If Motorola is truly looking to do some strategic things, he seems like a good fit."
Liska, 52, was hired for his "broad" strategic and operational experience, Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Erickson said Friday. She declined to comment how Liska's appointment will affect plans for the handset business.
Liska is replacing Tom Meredith, the acting CFO since David Devonshire retired in March. Meredith will continue as a director. He played a role in the company's battle with Icahn before last year's shareholder meeting, when Icahn failed to win a board seat, Kvaal wrote.
Icahn said Jan. 31 that Motorola's plans for splitting off the handset business won't deter him from nominating new directors. He has proposed four candidates, Frank Biondi Jr., William Hambrecht, Lionel Kimerling and Keith Meister. Icahn owns about 5 percent of Motorola.