X
Tech

Motorola Mobility's shareholders approve Google merger

Motorola Mobility's shareholders have overwhelmingly agreed to a Google merger. But the U.S. Justice Dept. still remains silent on the issue.
Written by Zack Whittaker, Contributor

Motorola Mobility has been given the green light to merge with Google by its shareholders during a special meeting on Thursday.

99 percent of the shares voting at yesterday's meeting of stockholders voted in favour of the adoption of the merger agreement, representing nearly three-quarters of Motorola Mobility's total outstanding shares.

The two companies are now a step closer to making the merger happen, with Google currently expecting the $12.5 billion acquisition to go ahead by early 2012.

Sanjay Jha, chairman and chief executive of Motorola Mobility said, "We look forward to working with Google to realize the significant value this combination will bring to our stockholders and all the new opportunities it will provide our dedicated employees, customers, and partners".

By bringing Google and Motorola Mobility together, it will allow the smartphone maker to team up with the mobile operating system creator and search giant to create an ecosystem for Android, which currently holds the first-place spot as the most popular mobile device operating system in the U.S. and the UK.

The move will also enable Google to acquire a number of key patents from Motorola, which will bolster the company's position as it continues to fight legal disputes over alleged patent infringement.

But Google recently stated that the Motorola Mobility arm be treated as a third-party smartphone maker, rather than being made a subsidiary of the larger search giant's company

Google also said that it would not favour its acquisition over any other Android partner.

So far, it has been quiet on the anti-competitive, antitrust front, with no company publicly denouncing the merger. But the U.S. Justice Dept. will still need to approve the merger, but looks so far at this stage the deal will go ahead.

Related:

Editorial standards