Motorola investor Carl Icahn raises stake again before spinoff

Carl Icahn, an activist investor who has called for the breakup of Motorola Inc., has again raised his stake in the telecommunications and electronics company.

Icahn raised his shareholding to 9.99 percent from 8.75 percent in May, according to a U.S. regulatory filing dated Aug. 3. The New York-based billionaire investor held 5.15 percent of Motorola at the end of last year and disclosed an increase in the stake in May.

Motorola is planning to spin off its mobile-phone and set- top box operations into a new company in the first quarter of next year, and the operation will be led by Co-Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Jha. Plans for the separation were originally announced in March 2008, following pressure from Icahn.

Jha said in June that Icahn has been "a force for good" within the Schaumburg, Illinois-based company by agitating for change. Icahn built his fortune as an activist investor, pushing for strategy changes at companies including Time Warner Inc.

Motorola last month said it will sell its wireless network unit to Nokia Siemens Networks, the telecommunications equipment joint venture between Nokia Oyj and Siemens AG, for $1.2 billion as it prepares for further restructuring.