"Siemens acceleration in Communications is shutting down, and has put its 24-company portfolio on the block. Several bids have been submitted, with a final decision due this week.

The global group began life in 2001 as Siemens Mobile Acceleration, with a focus on seed-stage and early-stage opportunities in the wireless sector. It was renamed this past March, and given an expanded mandate to invest $100 million over five years in the broader communications space.

Since then, however, corporate parent Siemens AG has instituted a major restructuring of its information and communications activities. It announced plans to lay off 5,400 employees, reportedly agreed to sell its Product-Related Services business to Fujitsu Siemens Computers and actually paid BenQ Corp. to acquire its money-hemorrhaging mobile handset unit. The shutdown of Siemens Acceleration in Communications is just another part of the restructuring, with the corporate upside of near-immediate liquidity.

It is unclear if Siemens also will look to sell some of its other venture capital endeavors, like the Communications Fund unit of Siemens Venture Capital. A source familiar with the situation said that he didn't know, but added that Acceleration in Communications had been particularly vulnerable because its seed-stage deals often had loose strategic ties to Siemens' overall strategy."