Google announced today, August 15, 2011 that it will acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for $40.00 per share in cash, or a total of about $12.5 billion in cash.
“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,” said Google CEO Larry Page in a statement.
This also means that Google is going to compete head to head with Apple (hardware and software) in the fast-growing smartphone market.
Android will remain open.
Larry Page said: “This acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform. Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. We will run Motorola as a separate business. Many hardware partners have contributed to Android’s success and we look forward to continuing to work with all of them to deliver outstanding user experiences.”
Google, which plans to run Motorola Mobility as a separate business, said the deal will close by the end of 2011 or early in 2012, and requires regulatory approvals in the U.S., European Union and other areas, as well as the blessing of Motorola Mobility’s shareholders.
