Google vende Motorola a Lenovo per 2,91 miliardi di dollari [AGGIORNATO: UFFICIALE]

Una notizia alquanto inaspettata quella che giunge direttamente dal China Daily: Google sarebbe in procinto di vendere Motorola a Lenovo. Tale indiscrezione ha del clamoroso se si pensa alle cifre che circolano online, infatti pare che Lenovo sborserà “solo” 3 miliardi di dollari.

Google sta vendendo la sua divisione Motorola Mobility a Lenovo per circa 3 miliardi di dollari, secondo un rapporto del China Daily. Come molti di voi sapranno, Google ha acquisito la società, ed il suo cospicuo portafoglio di brevetti (circa 17.000), nell’agosto del 2011 per circa 12,5 miliardi di dollari.

L’accordo dovrebbe includere circa 10.000 brevetti di Motorola Mobility, anche se Google probabilmente manterrà le licenze per questi ultimi. Ecco quanto riportato dalla fonte:

Lenovo Group LTD è propenso ad acquistare Motorola Mobility di Google Inc, dando alla società cinese più voce in capitolo nel settore dei tablet e nel mercato degli smartphone.

L’acquisizione, del valore di almeno 2 miliardi dollari, includerà più di 10.000 brevetti. L’accordo dovrebbe essere annunciato Giovedi mattina a Pechino.

La controllata di Google, Motorola Mobility, ha registrato una perdita di circa 248 milioni dollari nel trimestre più recente, indice di un andamento piuttosto negativo della divisione. Ovviamente non appena avremo novità vi aggiorneremo tempestivamente.

Voi cosa ne pensate di questa scelta?

AGGIORNATO: Google ha ufficialmente annunciato la vendita di Motorola Mobility a Lenovo per 2,91 miliardi dollari. Come anticipato, Google manterrà la proprietà della stragrande maggioranza del portafoglio brevetti di Motorola Mobility, comprese le domande di brevetto in corso. Lenovo riceverà una licenza per questi brevetti e altre proprietà intellettuali. Inoltre, Lenovo riceverà oltre 2.000 brevetti così come il marchio Motorola Mobility.

Di seguito riportiamo il comunicato ufficiale:

Lenovo and Google today have entered into a definitive agreement under which Lenovo plans to acquire the Motorola Mobility smartphone business. With a strong PC business and a fast-growing smartphone business, this agreement will significantly strengthen Lenovo’s position in the smartphone market. In addition, Lenovo will gain a strong market presence in North America and Latin America, as well as a foothold in Western Europe, to complement its strong, fast-growing smartphone business in emerging markets around the world.

The purchase price is approximately US$2.91 billion (subject to certain adjustments), including US$1.41 billion paid at close, comprised of US$660 million in cash and US$750 million in Lenovo ordinary shares (subject to a share cap/floor). The remaining US$1.5 billion will be paid in the form of a three-year promissory note.

Lenovo, which in 2005 acquired IBM’s PC business and its legendary PC brand, will now acquire world-renowned Motorola Mobility, including the MOTOROLA brand and Motorola Mobility’s portfolio of innovative smartphones like the Moto X and Moto G and the DROID™ Ultra series. In addition to current products, Lenovo will take ownership of the future Motorola Mobility product roadmap.

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.

Motorola Mobility enjoys outstanding brand awareness around the world, and is currently the #3 Android smartphone manufacturer in the U.S. and #3 manufacturer overall in Latin America.

“The acquisition of such an iconic brand, innovative product portfolio and incredibly talented global team will immediately make Lenovo a strong global competitor in smartphones. We will immediately have the opportunity to become a strong global player in the fast-growing mobile space,” said Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of Lenovo. “We are confident that we can bring together the best of both companies to deliver products customers will love and a strong, growing business. Lenovo has a proven track record of successfully embracing and strengthening great brands – as we did with IBM’s Think brand – and smoothly and efficiently integrating companies around-the-world. I am confident we will be successful with this process, and that our companies will not only maintain our current momentum in the market, but also build a strong foundation for the future.”

“Lenovo has the expertise and track record to scale Motorola Mobility into a major player within the Android ecosystem. This move will enable Google to devote our energy to driving innovation across the Android ecosystem, for the benefit of smartphone users everywhere,” said Larry Page, CEO, Google.

“As part of Lenovo, Motorola Mobility will have a rapid path to achieving our goal of reaching the next 100 million people with the mobile Internet. With the recent launches of Moto X and Moto G, we have tremendous momentum right now and Lenovo’s hardware expertise and global reach will only help to accelerate this,” said Dennis Woodside, CEO, Motorola Mobility.

The transaction is subject to the satisfaction of regulatory requirements, customary closing conditions and any other needed approvals.

Via | MacRumors