Motorola Solutions completes acquisition of Airwave

Motorola Solutions of Schaumburg, IL announced on February 19 that it has completed its acquisition of Airwave, the largest private operator of a public safety network in the world.

“The acquisition of Airwave enables us to significantly grow our managed and support services business and reflects our commitment to the public safety users in Great Britain,” said Greg Brown, chairman and CEO of Motorola Solutions. “The combination of our years of experience as a trusted global leader in mission-critical communications and Airwave’s proven service delivery platform will provide Great Britain with innovative emergency services technology that enhances public safety today and into the future.”

Airwave delivers mission-critical voice and data communications to more than 300 emergency and public service agencies in Great Britain, including police, fire, rescue and ambulance services. Motorola Solutions has been a trusted, reliable communications partner to the emergency services community in Great Britain for more than 45 years. Recently, the UK Home Office awarded Motorola Solutions a long-term contract for the user services (Lot 2) for the Emergency Services Network (ESN), the future public safety network based on long-term evolution (LTE) technology.

Motorola Solutions purchased Airwave on a debt-free basis with a net cash payment of approximately £700 million (approximately $1 billion) at closing. In addition, a deferred cash payment of £64 million (approximately $90 million) will be made in November 2018. Motorola Solutions expects that the acquisition will be immediately accretive to its non-GAAP earnings and free cash flow.

Source: Motorola Solutions