San Francisco: Google has completed its $12.5 billion acquisition of cell phone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings, Google said in a press statement. Google acquired Motorola Mobility for $40 per share in cash.
This is the biggest deal in Google's 14-year history. The two companies announced the deal nine months ago.
Google Inc. prizes Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for its portfolio of more than 17,000 patents. Owning the rights to those patents will provide Google and the mobile device makers who rely on its Android software with valuable weapons in an intellectual arms race with Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and other technology giants.
But investors are worried Motorola's business making phones will trim Google's profit margins.
Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.
Sanjay Jha, who revived Motorola's Mobile Devices business, has stepped down as CEO, although he will continue to work with Google to help ensure a smooth transition. Dennis Woodside, who has overseen integration planning for the acquisition and previously served as President of Google's Americas region is the new CEO of Motorola Mobility.
Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, "I’m happy to announce the deal has closed. Motorola is a great American tech company, with a track record of over 80 years of innovation. It’s a great time to be in the mobile business, and I’m confident that the team at Motorola will be creating the next generation of mobile devices that will improve lives for years to come.
"Sanjay Jha, who was responsible for building the company and placing a big bet on Android, has stepped down as CEO. I would like to thank him for his efforts and am tremendously pleased that he will be working to ensure a smooth transition as long-time Googler Dennis Woodside takes over as CEO of Motorola Mobility.
"I've known Dennis for nearly a decade, and he’s been phenomenal at building teams and delivering on some of Google’s biggest bets. Dennis has always been a committed partner to our customers and I know he will be an outstanding leader of Motorola--and he’s already off to great start with some very strong new hires for the Motorola team."
Dennis Woodside, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said: "Motorola literally invented the entire mobile industry with the first-ever commercial cell phone in 1983. Thirty years later, mobile devices are at the center of the computing revolution.
"Our aim is simple: to focus Motorola Mobility’s remarkable talent on fewer, bigger bets, and create wonderful devices that are used by people around the world."
Dennis Woodside has hired a small number of leaders who will immediately join Motorola’s executive team, including Regina Dugan (former Director of DARPA), Mark Randall (former supply chain VP at Amazon and previously at Nokia), Vanessa Wittman (former CFO of Marsh & McLennan), Scott Sullivan (former head of HR at Visa and NVIDIA), and Gary Briggs (former Google VP of Consumer Marketing). In addition to these new leaders, many members of Motorola Mobility’s team will continue in their current roles: Iqbal Arshad (Product Development), Marshall Brown (Chief of Staff), Fei Liu (Mass Market Products), Dan Moloney (Home), Scott Offer (General Counsel), Mark Shockley (Sales), Mahesh Veerina (Software & Enterprise) and Jim Wicks (Consumer Experience Design).
Woodside added: "Motorola Mobility has many outstanding leaders, including people who were behind the original RAZR in 2004 and recent successes like the Droid and RAZR MAXX. Our colleagues joining the team come from varied backgrounds, from DARPA to Amazon and NVIDIA, but they all share a track record of leading innovation at speed, and a great deal of excitement about the mission ahead."
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