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Siemens' mobile phones unit has not been doing so hot lately, so the company has decided to spin it off to Taiwan's largest mobile phone maker, BenQ Corp.

In the deal, BenQ takes over Siemens' mobile phone unit, while Siemens gets a 2.5% stake in BenQ. Under the agreement, the Siemens brand will remain on the phones for the next five years.

As part of the deal, BenQ will get Siemens' production facilities in Brazil and Germany, as well as one in Shanghai. It will also get 6,000 Siemens employees. Many of them have job guarantees until next year.

"With the acquisition of Siemens' mobile phones business, we are rapidly approaching our goal to become one of the world's leading players in the mobile phone industry," said BenQ Chairman and CEO K.Y. Lee. "Our expansion strategy will be strongly supported by this deal, as we can rely on a global organization with excellent employees, a well-established blue-chip customer base in the mobile business and a strong brand with high impact."

Siemens has decided to steer away from the consumer market and concentrate more on the industrial part of its business while other European companies are sending more of their business to firms in Asia.

"For us, continuation of the company location in Kamp-Lintfort was an important factor in deciding on a buyer. As agreed upon in the supplementary collective bargaining agreement, we have thus created good prospects for the future for our people. At the same time, the measures settled with our employees have played a crucial role in securing the competitiveness of this facility," said Siemens CEO Dr. Klaus Kleinfeld.

According to Bloomberg News, "Shares of Siemens rose as much as 1.69 euros, or 2.8 percent, to 62.90 euros and traded at 62.85 euros as of 4:22 p.m. in Frankfurt. Benq shares dropped 2.7 percent to NT$32.5 in Taipei."

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.