Motorola’s plans to split into two companies will become effective on January 4, when the company will be renamed Motorola Solutions. The handset division will be known as Motorola Mobility. Previously touted for sometime in the first quarter, the split appears to be well on track and will see Motorola Mobility headed by Sanjay Jha, while Greg Brown will run the unit that produces barcode scanners, walkie-talkies and other emergency-communication equipment (Motorola Solutions). Earlier this year it was announced that Motorola’s mobile network equipment business is to be sold to Nokia Siemens Networks. In a joint statement, both CEOs said: “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. We look forward to taking advantage of the opportunities before us as we begin the new year as two independent, publicly traded companies.”

Meanwhile yesterday Motorola’s board approved a 1-for-7 reverse stock split in an effort to build up the share price ahead of the split through a tax-free dividend. Dow Jones Newswires notes that Motorola is eager to perform a reserve split to boost the per-share value of the stock, which would affect shares of Motorola Solutions, consisting of the company’s business mobile and networks divisions. New stock is being issued for the handset and home set-top box divisions. In October, Motorola reported its third-quarter profit soared as it focused on the release of new smartphones using Google’s Android software. Motorola has bet heavily that its lineup of Android devices will rejuvenate its flagging mobile devices business—a move that is starting to pay off.