The Short Names

On the heels of Nokia Siemens Networks agreeing to buy Motorola’s equipment business for $1.2 billion, the company is now potentially seeking to raise at least $1 billion from several private equity groups. According to the WSJ, preliminary discussions have taken place with several firms, including Silver Lake Partners, TPG,Blackstone, Bain Capital and KKR. A deal could include multiple investors and would be complicated further by the fact that the company is jointly held between Finland’s Nokia (NYSE: NOK), and Germany’s Siemens.

According to the journal’s sources, the goal of the cash infusion is to prepare Nokia Siemens for an IPO in a few years, which would allow Nokia and Siemens to exit the joint venture, and private-equity to get a return on their investment.

Nokia Siemens said it decided to purchase the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) group because it would beef up the company’s global presence, particularly in Japan, but also in the U.S., where it’s had difficulties expanding. The deal included Motorola’s CDMA business and relationships with 50 operators, but did not include Motorola’s iDEN technology used by Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel. The companies expect to close the deal by the end of the year.