MOTOROLA OFFICIALLY SPLITS ON JANUARY 4

Motorola announced Tuesday that its board has approved a reverse stock split ratio of 1-for-7, and the company will finally split into two separate entities on January 4th, 2011. In just over a month, Motorola will change its name to Motorola Solutions, Inc. and its mobile division will separate to form a new publicly traded company, Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. The reverse split will boost the value of Motorola’s current stock, which will be traded as MSI starting January 4th. New stock will be issued for Motorola Mobility, which will trade under the symbol MMI. “Today’s announcement marks another important milestone toward the upcoming separation that is expected to benefit Motorola, its stockholders, as well as each company’s respective customers and employees,” Motorola co-CEOs Greg Brown and Sanjay Jha said in a joint statement. “We look forward to taking advantage of the opportunities before us as we begin the new year as two independent, publicly traded companies.” Following the split, Brown will be CEO of Motorola Solutions while Jha will become CEO of Motorola Mobility. [BGR]