Siemens, Europe’s largest engineering company, announced yesterday it has agreed a deal with the administrators overseeing the insolvency of BenQ Mobile, its former mobile handset unit, reports Associated Press. In a short statement, Siemens said it would pay a gross sum of €300 million in relation to the insolvency of BenQ – which filed for insolvency in 2006 – but noted that net payment to BenQ was likely to be reduced to around €255 million once Siemens’ own creditor claims were taken into account. Siemens said it had made a sufficient provision for the expected charge, and that it would not have any negative impact on operating results for the current 2009 fiscal year.

Siemens sold its ailing handset division to Taiwan’s BenQ in 2005, though the Taiwanese company was unable to revitalise the business. BenQ finally closed down the German arm of the business in early 2007, which affected thousands of jobs. Siemens exited the telecoms industry altogether earlier this year when it sold its cordless phone unit – Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices (SHC) – to Arques Industries in August.