Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Benq Corp.'s bankrupt German mobile- phone business will be liquidated and its assets sold after the last potential bidder withdrew its interest in buying the company, insolvency administrator Martin Prager said.

The last potential bidder quit ``after intensive enquiries and analysis with the reason that a profitable continuation of the business wouldn't be possible,'' Prager said in an e-mailed statement today. ``We have to acknowledge that the market has decided against Benq Mobile.''

German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Feb. 23 that the insolvency administrator estimated the proceeds of a sale of real estate, machinery and patents at 310 million euros ($408 million) in addition to 66 million euros of cash. That compares with 883 million euros of liabilities, the newspaper said.

Benq, Taiwan's biggest handset maker, last October decided to discontinue funding its German unit less than a year after taking it over from Siemens AG, Europe's biggest engineering company. The business had employed 3,000 people.

Once among the world's top three phone brands, the handset maker first stumbled under Siemens and then collapsed under Benq because both owners failed to compete effectively with rivals such as Nokia Oyj or Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd.

Munich-based Siemens sold its first cellular phone two decades ago. The company decided to pay Benq 250 million euros to take on the unit after losses mounted and its market share shrank. Mobile phones were among Siemens's last consumer products, as the company relies mainly on industrial clients for products ranging from high-speed trains to energy turbines and medical scanners.

The last production of mobile phones, with about 160 remaining employees, ended Jan. 31. Thirty employees are handling the liquidation of the company. About 2,300 employees in Munich and Kamp-Lintfort moved to two transfer companies at the beginning of the year, Prager said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Oliver Suess in Munich at osuess@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 25, 2007 12:53 EST