Google has won approval from Chinese regulators for its $12.5 billion (€9.8 billion) purchase of Motorola Mobility, clearing a final hurdle for a deal that boosts its patents portfolio and steps up competition with Apple.
“We are pleased the deal has received approval in all jurisdictions,” Motorola Mobility said yesterday. “We expect to close imminently.”
The deal helps Larry Page, the Google co-founder who took over as chief executive last year, to push the web company to better compete with Apple’s iPhone and gain more clout for its Android software as it expands in the hardware business. It also gives Google, the world’s biggest maker of smartphone software, 17,000 patents to protect Android devices in legal disputes with competitors. The acquisition, announced last year, had already received approval in Europe, the US and other jurisdictions.
Google becomes a competitor to the other handset makers that make Android devices. In addition to Motorola Mobility phones, the software runs on handsets made by firms such as Samsung Electronics and HTC.
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