Oh Motorola at Google. We barely knew thee. Reports are flying around this morning that Confirmed: Lenovo is the new owner of Motorola Mobility, having bought the company from Google for $US2.91 billion. That’s a $US9 billion discount for those playing at home.
Reuters first reported the divestment of Motorola Mobility by Google, and TechCrunch says it has now confirmed said reports, with a price for the company pegged at around $US3 billion. Google confirmed the news this morning on its investor blog.
It seems crazy when you think about it, considering that Motorola Mobility (that’s the devices arm of the company) was acquired by Google just a few years ago for $US12.5 billion. Google maintains it always bought Motorola, not for its devices, but for the patents it held dating back to the very first mobile phone.
The divestment to Lenovo for a $US9 billion looks slightly less crazy if you think that Google maintained access to the patents it acquired while selling off the business itself.
Google has now revealed that it will maintain the patents it bought Motorola for, but license them to Lenovo at the same time.
Google will maintain ownership of the vast majority of the Motorola Mobility patent portfolio, including current patent applications and invention disclosures. As part of its ongoing relationship with Google, Lenovo will receive a license to this rich portfolio of patents and other intellectual property. Additionally Lenovo will receive over 2,000 patent assets, as well as the Motorola Mobility brand and trademark portfolio.
There you go.