The European Commission says it has set a deadline of Feb. 13, 2012 to decide whether or not to give its blessing for the acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Google.
Google recently brought forth new documents — which are now under review by the EU — in support of the move, which will cost more than $12 billion. Had Google not brought these to the table, the original deadline for the EU’s decision was January 10th and we would have had known the acquisition’s fate by now.
“We’re confident the Commission will conclude that this acquisition is good for competition and we’ll be working closely and cooperatively with them as they continue their review,” a statement from Google reads.
Saying a mobile software company acquiring a mobile hardware company is good for competition is a rather bold move and one that certainly has to be backed by convincing details, such as Google’s argument that it will help defend patent lawsuits tremendously.
The Internet search (among many, many other miscellaneous product categories) company set out to acquire Motorola Mobility in August 2011 for a cool $12.5 billion with the main motives including defense in numerous patent attacks against Android and perhaps to have a louder voice in the making of Android hardware.
We’ll know soon enough if Googorola is a reality.