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Motorola CEO Comments on Lenovo's $2.91 Billion Buyout

Earlier today, we received the news that Lenovo will be purchasing Motorola Mobility from Google for the rather large sum of $2.91 billion. Make no mistake, this is a massive news story, as Google only recently purchased Motorola Mobility back in 2012 for a whopping $12.5 billion. The deal seems to be a win-win for all parties involved, however, and now CEO Dennis Woodside has taken to the Motorola Blog to give his own comment on the somewhat surprising acquisition.

While Google offered the backing Motorola needed to release phones like the Moto X and the Moto G, which helped “re-establish the Motorola brand around the world,” the company will be working with Lenovo toward an entirely different goal. Motorola wants to see mobile internet in the hands of another 100 million people and views Lenovo as the perfect partner to have in undertaking such a task. “Combined, our two challenger brands will become a true force in mobility,” Woodside said.

Once the deal is complete, Google remain in control of the “vast majority” of Motorola Mobility’s patents, so at least some portion of that portfolio will be going to Lenovo. A big reason Google purchased Motorola is so it could get its hand on that massive patent portfolio, so the terms of this takeover means that Google will still be benefiting from its 2012 purchase. Of course, Lenovo will get a license to use the patents that Google will continue to own, so there will be a lot of benefits for each company involved. Woodside says Lenovo stands to gain “over 2,000 patent assets, as well as the Motorola Mobility brand and trademark portfolio.”

So, once the deal is all said and done, don’t expect Lenovo and Google to go off and do their own thing. With a license to use Google’s patents, we expect these two companies will be working together closely in the future. This could be an especially good deal for Lenovo, considering Motorola is an established smartphone manufacturer here in the US. That brand identity will allow Lenovo to break into the US smartphone scene, something it’s held off on doing thus far. Stay tuned, because things are certainly going to be interesting from here on out.

Source: Motorola Blog