In a surprise move, Google has announced that it will be acquiring the entirety of Motorola Mobility. Larry Page, CEO of Google, announced the acquisition via the Official Google Blog, and claims that Motorola will help “supercharge Android.”
The combination of Google and Motorola will not only supercharge Android, but will also enhance competition and offer consumers accelerating innovation, greater choice, and wonderful user experiences. I am confident that these great experiences will create huge value for shareholders.
The acquisition will be costing Google around $40 per share for a grand total of $12.5 billion, and was unanimously approved by the board of directors of both companies. Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, stated that the transaction “offers significant value for [our] stockholders” and that the company will be able to do even more to innovate with the Android platform at hand. The transaction is expected to close in late 2011/early 2012 after it receives the approval of regulators and shareholders.
Google plans to operate Motorola Mobility as a separate entity and will not amalgamate the mobile phone manufacturer into the Google services branding, but naturally you would expect the company to focus solely on producing Android-powered devices. Google also stated that Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and that the OS “will remain open.”
Also, as Google has completely bought Motorola Mobility, there is little chance that the company will be seeking a Nokia-like deal to produce Windows Phones, as previously reported. Furthermore, this deal will not affect the other Motorola brand, Motorola Solutions; one of the two products of the Motorola company split early this year.