August 15, 2011

Google Buys Motorola Mobility For $12.5B

In the second stealth proposed acquisition this year (AT&T and T-Mobile being the first), Google is buying Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for $40 per share in cash, or a total of about $12.5 billion, a premium of 63 percent to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday, Aug. 12. Both boards have approved the deal. CT Insider will be listening in on the analyst conference call and will report back later today.

Here’s more from the press release earlier today: The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, allows Google to “supercharge” the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.

Says Larry Page, Google CEO, “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

Adds Sanjay Jha, CEO at Motorola Mobility, “This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world. We have shared a productive partnership with Google to advance the Android platform, and now through this combination we will be able to do even more to innovate and deliver outstanding mobility solutions across our mobile devices and home businesses.”

The acquisition is set to close by the end of 2011 or early in 2012, once all the legalities are settled.