Google completes Motorola Mobility acquisition

Google has announced it has completed its acquisition of Motorola Mobility. The company began the acquisition process in August 2011, paying $12.5 billion for the mobile phone and tablet maker; with over 17,000 wireless related patents and 7,500 pending patents, Google's acquisition is widely believed to be about that patent portfolio.

The deal had to pass various regulatory hurdles though; in February 2012 the European Commission and the US Department of Justice cleared the acquisition. The last major hurdle was believed to be the Chinese authorities who were reported to have cleared the deal last weekend. Reports mention that Google is required to keep Android open and freely available for the next five years as part of that clearance.

As part of the completion of the deal, Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha has stepped down and is being replaced by "long time Googler" Dennis Woodside. Woodside has been overseeing the acquisition of Motorola Mobility and started his career at Google managing its investments in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa before taking over Google's Sales and Operations in the Americas. Woodside has reportedly already hired a new management team from around the technology industry.

In other news, it is reported that Motorola won't be upgrading a number of its mobile devices to Google's Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" operating system, while other phones and tablets will not see those updates until the last quarter of the year.

(djwm)