WASHINGTON – Search giant Google is buying phone company Motorola Mobility for $ 12.5 billion in cash, making this its biggest acquisition yet, if approved. The deal will boost Android, Google’s operating system for mobile devices. The deal was announced Monday morning by Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page in a blog saying it will “supercharge the android ecosystem”. But, he clarified, Android will remain an open platform.
Since its launch in November 2007, Android is now installed in 150 million devices, with more than 550,000 devices added daily — through a network of about 39 manufacturers and 231 carriers in 123 countries.
Google is paying $ 40 a share in cash for Motorola, which, Google’s CFO Patrick Pichette said in a conference call for analysts and reporters, is a 63% premium on the mobile devices company’s stock.
The deal takes Google straight into telecommunications hardware business.
Both Page and Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha were on the same call and said they were excited by the possibilities opening up for both companies as a result of the deal – especially on account of Motorola’s drive into the living room.
