EC gives the nod to Google's acquisition of Motorola

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 14 February 2012 10:07

IT Industry - Deals

The European Commission has approved Google's planned $US12.5b acquisition of Motorola Mobility saying it would "not significantly modify the market situation in respect of operating systems and patents for [smartphones and tablets]."

Joaquín Almunia, Commission vice president in charge of competition policy, said: "We have approved the acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Google because, upon careful examination, this transaction does not itself raise competition issues. Of course, the Commission will continue to keep a close eye on the behaviour of all market players in the sector, particularly the increasingly strategic use of patents".

The Commission considered whether Google would be likely to prevent Motorola's competitors from using Google's Android operating system. It concluded: "Given that Google's core business model is to push its online and mobile services and software to the widest possible audience, it is unlikely that Google would restrict the use of Android solely to Motorola, a minor player in the European Economic Area, as compared to operators such as Samsung and HTC."

The Commission also concluded that Google's acquisition of Motorola's portfolio of patents related to mobile technologies "would not significantly change the existing market situation in this respect."

The Commission also examined whether Google would be in a position to use Motorola's standard essential patents to obtain preferential treatment for its services, including search and advertising. It found that Google already had many ways in which to incentivise customers to take up its services and that the acquisition of Motorola would not materially change this.

However in a separate statement Almunia said: "Today's decision does not mean that the merger clearance blesses all actions by Motorola in the past or all future action by Google with regard to the use of these standard essential patents. Our decision today is without prejudice to the legality under EU antitrust law of Motorola's past and Google's future actions. However, the question whether Motorola's or Google's conduct is compliant with EU antitrust law cannot be dealt with in the context of the merger procedure."