Samsung rules out Motorola mobile unit buy

SEOUL (Reuters) - The head of the mobile phone unit at Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) ruled out acquiring Motorola's MOT.N handset business, saying Samsung has little to gain from the combination, Yonhap News reported on Tuesday.

Choi Gee-sung, president of Samsung's telecommunications unit, said the Motorola unit was not likely to make a good "supplement" for the South Korean technology giant, according to Yonhap.

"There are many overlapping areas and little to gain," Choi said. "We'd better not go into this kind of M&A."

Choi was speaking on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Motorola Inc, which lost the No. 2 mobile phone maker title to Samsung last year, said in January it was considering separating its mobile devices unit, which analysts value at $9 billion-$12 billion.

Analysts said the unit could potentially draw interest from electronics makers around the world from Dell Inc (DELL.O) to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd HWT.UL.

Motorola chief executive Greg Brown said on Monday the company is "fully committed" to the mobile phone business, but analysts say options including a sale remain open.

(Reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Keiron Henderson)