Last month, Google was asked to provide additional details on how the acquisition will be carried out in a filing issued by the EC. Further, another filing was issued to Google, as it was noted on the EC web site. It read that a second notification was issued on December 6, informing Google that the deadline for a decision on the deal will be suspended.
Google, however is hoping that it would be able to end this deal after getting a regulatory approval for its purchase of Motorola’s mobile hardware branch. Notably, Motorola shareholders have already signed off on the deal, which values the company at $40 per share.
The deal has been interestingly poised as this acquisition would allow Google to sneak peek the in-house option for the development of Android hardware, although the company has since promised to operate Motorola as an independent brand.
It was noted long back that this deal could affect the mobile industry as a whole. This is because experts noted that Google would draw closer to Android, which could open doors for rival platforms such as Windows Phone or even BlackBerry to garner attention from mobile handset developers.
Importantly, it has already been discussed that if this deal gets a ‘go ahead’, then the intellectual property acquired in the deal could affect a number of legal challenges facing Android. The same was even noted by Google CEO Larry Page that the company aims to “better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.” Page said it when the search engine giant announced its plan to acquire Motorola Mobility in August.
Talking about the query, it would mean that the Jan. 10 deadline for the first phase of the approval process won’t be met. The Commission said that a new date will be announced when Google has submitted the documentation.
A spokeswoman said via email, that the search engine giant is “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.” This was noted as Google passed on a confirmation that the Commission has asked for more information, saying that it is routine measure.
The deal would even help sail through a number of cases related to Android-powered device manufacturers. In fact it rose quite a few questions, but one of the most important one was that about how other mobile phone manufacturers such as HTC and Samsung, which ship the majority of Android-based smartphones, would react. So far, Samsung has announced it will back Tizen, a new Linux-based OS based on MeeGo and Limo.