Google Inc. says it’s buying Motorola Mobility Holdings, Moto’s wireless phone unit, for $12.5 billion in cash.
Google shares fell, as the acquiring company’s stock often do, by about 3% in premarket trading, according to the Associated Press. But Moto shares rocketed 60%.
Google gets Motorola Mobility’s substantial patent portfolio, which will be a boon to Google’s Android product line and give it some cover in the patent lawsuits lobbed by smartphone competitors.
In a statement, Google CEO Larry Page said that having the portfolio will help the company “better protect Android from anti-competetitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.”
Not to be overlooked is the fact that open-source champion Google will finally own the hardware on which its operating system runs. It’s competitors own their software and hardware, and guard them aggressively. Page said they remain committed to an open-platform Android.
The deal is expected to close around the first of the year.
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Google Buys $12.5B Shield Against Patent Suits
