In a major move with far-reaching implications, Google (News 
- Alert) has reached a deal to buy Motorola Mobility for about $12.5 billion, or $40 a share – a premium of more than 60 percent to Motorola’s closing price of $24.47 on Friday.
The boards of both companies have approved the deal.
“Motorola Mobility's total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies,” said Larry Page (News - Alert), CEO of Google, in a statement. “Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android (News - Alert) ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers.”
“This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world,” said Sanjay Jha (News - Alert), CEO of Motorola Mobility. “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.”
“We expect that this combination will enable us to break new ground for the Android ecosystem,” added Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google. “However, our vision for Android is unchanged and Google remains firmly committed to Android as an open platform and a vibrant open source community. We will continue to work with all of our valued Android partners to develop and distribute innovative Android-powered devices.”
Check back with TMC regularly for more updates on this major announcement.
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John Lahtinen is Community Development Editor for TMCnet. He has more than 15 years of combined professional and educational experience involving news, education, and marketing. John holds a master's degree in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree in English from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
