Google will buy Motorola’s former phone making division, Motorola Mobility, for $12.5 billion in cash, marking the search engine giant’s largest acquisition to date.
“Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies,” said Google CEO Larry Page in a statement. “Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers.”
Google Android competes directly with iPhone, Blackberry, and Microsoft Windows-based devices. Mobility makes smartphones for the Android, but sales have floundered, especially against the iPhone/iPad.
Motorola Mobility split from the rest of the company in January.
In the sale, Google will pay $40.00 per share, 63 percent over Motorola’s closing stock price on Friday.
The Associated Press reported that Google is likely interested in Motorola’s many, many patents on mobile phone technology, as a consortium of its competitors, which included Microsoft, Apple and Blackberry maker Research In Motion, recently won the chance to buy thousands of patents from bankrupt Canadian networking gear maker Novell.