UTStarcom has agreed to sell its Mobile Solutions Business Unit (MSBU) to private-equity firm OpenGate Capital for an undisclosed sum. The unit will be renamed as ‘Star Solutions’ and UTStarcom will continue to work with the new company as an OEM provider. In a company statement, UTStarcom’s CEO-elect Peter Blackmore said the divestiture was part of the company’s “new strategic focus,” announced late last year, that will see it focus on IP-based technologies such as IPTV. The deal is expected to close in three weeks.

The company announced separately that Blackmore will take up his role as CEO from July 1 this year. He will succeed Hong Liang Lu, one of the two UTStarcom senior executives who were fined last month by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over allegations that the company had filed false financial reports.