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Taiwan's biggest mobile phone maker, BenQ Corp., announced here Wednesday that it will purchase the mobile phone business of Siemens and the deal will be completed before Sep. 30.

Under the deal, all Siemens' mobile phone research, developmentand production bases, including a production line in Germany and another in Brazil, as well as its headquarters, marketing and sale agencies worldwide will be handed over to and managed by BenQ.

Siemens' 6,000 employees in the mobile phone sector will also be employed by BenQ, which can continue to use the trademark of Siemens for five years.

With the completion of the deal, BenQ is expected to become the world's fifth largest mobile phone manufacturer. Its business income will reach 10.9 billion US dollars.

At a news conference in Beijing Wednesday, BenQ's Board Chairman KY Lee said that BenQ will take over Siemens's mobile phone business after the German company makes up all the losses the mobile phone department suffered before this year.

Siemens will give BenQ 250 million euros, Lee said without elaborating.

Meanwhile, the German company will invest 50 million euros to buy 2.5 percent of BenQ's shares.

However, the purchasing deal is still awaiting approval by Germany's relevant departments and BenQ's shareholders' meeting.

Siemens, whose mobile phone business reported losses in the past year, has been looking for a suitable partner over the past few months. In the fiscal year 2004, its losses in the mobile phone field amounted to 280 million euros.

Founded in 1984, BenQ is engaged in multiple businesses. Its business turnover reached 3.6 billion US dollars in 2003.