Chinese regulators have prevented Nokia Siemens from reaching its goal of acquiring Motorola's wireless infrastructure business by the end of 2010.
The company said it now expects the $1.2 billion acquisition to close in the first quarter of this year.
China's Anti-Monopoly Bureau, a unit of the Ministry of Commerce, has so far yet to sign off on the proposed purchase.
Regulators from the US, the EU, Brazil, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan and Turkey have all approved the deal already, making China the last holdout.
“We are continuing to work closely with the authority in China to finalize the clearance process in that country,” Nokia Siemens CEO Rajeev Suri said. He said the company was “disappointed by the delay.”
The deal for Nokia Siemens to buy the bulk of Motorola's wireless infrastructure assets was first announced in July. It is part of Motorola's plan to spin off its handset division from the rest of the company.
Nokia Siemens said it would acquire around 7,500 former Motorola employees with the purchase, including entire large R&D sites in the US, China and India.