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Motorola Inc. and Nortel Networks Corp. are reportedly in talks to form a joint venture to combine their wireless-infrastructure units, a prospective union that would have nearly $10 billion in sales. The move would serve to combat slow growth in the telecom equipment business, according to a Wall Street Journal report Monday. Talks of a JV have been under way for a while, but have heated up lately. The deal would be structured with Nortel, of Toronto, taking a majority position and Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola holding the minority, the paper said. The move would combine the pair's units that focus on network equipment for wireless carriers, a corner of the industry in which large equipment companies like Sweden's Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent of Paris and Nokia-Siemens Networks , a Nokia Corp.-Siemens AG joint venture, are prominent, the Journal said. Motorola has been under pressure of late to shake things up. Activist investor Carl Icahn, who last year waged an unsuccessful proxy contest for board representation, said less than two weeks ago he would nominate a slate of four to the company's board. The group includes: Frank Biondi Jr., former chief executive officer of Viacom Inc. ; William R. Hambrecht, co-founder of the former investment bank Hambrecht & Quist ; Lionel C. Kimerling, a professor of materials science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Keith Meister, managing director of the Icahn investment funds and chief executive officer of Icahn Enterprises. The nominations followed news Feb. 1 the company would consider trying to boost market performance by spinning off its handset business, which fell to the No.3 spot after market-leader Nokia new No. 2 Samsung. Motorola hasn't had a groundbreaking follow-up to its Razr phone. Though unsuccessful, Icahn's proxy battle last year likely had a hand in the ouster of then-chief executive Ed Zander, who was succeeded by Greg Brown. At the time of Zander's ouster, Icahn suggested the company should restructure entirely, splitting into four companies that focus on mobile devices, enterprise mobility, the digital home and mobile network infrastructure. The joint venture talk, the Journal noted, illustrates Brown's efforts to restructure the company. Motorola shares ended trade Friday down 1.4% at $11.26. Nortel shares were up 0.7% at $11.07.  Deal Video
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