The European Commission said it expects to rule on Google’s planned $12.5bn acquisition of Motorola Mobility by January 10 after the search giant submitted an application for regulatory clearance.
Google announced its intentions to buy Motorola back in August, giving the internet giant a significant technology boost to the Android platform in the increasingly competitive smartphone and tablets market.
A Reuters report confirms that Google needs to clear one final hurdle – getting the European Commission’s ascent.
A post on the official website of the European Commission confirms that the search giant had sent an official notification to the commission, detailing them about the said deal.
Reportedly, as a part of its review, the European Commission will investigate, among other facets Google’s business practices, which got questionable after smaller rivals of the search giant began voicing their issues.
The U.S. Department of Justice, too will assess the deal proceedings.
Motorola Mobility was the mobile devices division of Motorola which was in founded 1928 and the home division. The divisions began trading as a separate independent company on January 4, 2011.
Motorola’s other business, Motorola Solutions, will remain a separate company with no ties to Google.
Motorola has been committed to Android since 2008 when the company chose Android as its sole operating system for the phone maker’s smartphones. Google also sees value in other parts of Motorola’s business, such as home devices and video solutions.
In addition, Google stands to gain a large number of patents with the purchase, which will aid it in the on-going litigation that Android faces.
According to Google, this purchase will not change how Android is offered as an open platform. Motorola will still be a licensee of Android, and the platform will still be open for other manufacturers to use.
Google says that the purchase will allow the two companies to “supercharge” for the “benefit of consumers, partners and developers everywhere.”
