If those at Google have a nailed down strategy for the soon-to-be acquired Motorola, they clearly aren't keen on making it public.
Since the proposed $12.5 billion deal was first announced, Google executives have suggested the company would be run at arms length, but would also be an intrinsic part of its operations moving forward especially in light of the OEM's bulging patent portfolio.
Either way, the EU executive - which was evaluating the acquisition on behalf of the 27 member strong European Union believes it has enough information to rule that a Google-owned Motorola will have no significant impact on the mobile OS market.
Work in progress
As such, the EU has effectively given the deal its seal of approval.
"We have approved the acquisition...because upon careful examination, this transaction does not itself raise competition issues," said EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia in a statement.
However, Almunia has cast aside any notion that the EU will now take its eye on the ball, suggesting it will keep watch over developments moving forward.
"This merger decision should not and will not mean that we are not concerned by the possibility that, once Google is the owner of this portfolio, Google can abuse these patents, linking some patents with its Android devices," he continued.
"This is our worry. We might be obliged to open some cases in the future. This is not enough to block the merger but we will be vigilant."
End of round one
Next up for Google and Motorola is the ruling to be made by the US Justice Department, which is expected to green light the acquisition in the coming days.
The firms will also need the approval of Chinese regulators before the move becomes official, while Reuters reports regulators in Israel and Taiwan are also yet to make a ruling.
[source: Reuters]
News
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
Related Articles
Top Stories
Feature
May 16th, 2024
Behind the scenes: How adding sandwich offers to an idle merge game boosted three metrics at once
as
Feature
May 16th, 2024
Honor of Kings set for June 20th global launch after $15 billion+ revenue in China
Feature
May 14th, 2024
Matej Lančarič's Squad Busters deep dive: Under the skin of 2024's biggest launch yet
Events
Valencia Indie Summit 2024 | Europe | May 16th |
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
Popular Stories
News
May 10th, 2024
Week in Views - Xbox's mobile games store is doomed to fail, Sonic meets the Angry Birds, and Apple's iPad problem
Feature
May 14th, 2024