The US and European regulators have approved Google's $12.5 billion acquisition of cellphone maker Motorola Mobility Inc, a move that will boost the technology giant's efforts to strengthen its position in the mobile market.
However, the regulators would continue to keep a close eye on Google and other rivals' use of patents to ensure that the transaction complies with the anti-trust rules.
"We have approved the acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Google because, upon careful examination, this transaction does not itself raise competition issues," the EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement.
He further said that 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".
Separately, the US Justice Department said in a statement that "the specific transactions at issue are not likely to significantly change existing market dynamics".
It further said that the Department would continue to monitor the use of standard-essential patents (SEP) in the wireless device industry and "will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action to stop any anticompetitive use of SEP rights".
Google still require approvals from many countries such as China, Taiwan and Israel.
Google had announced in August last year that it would buy Motorola Mobility, maker of smartphones and computer tablets and the holder of a portfolio of about 17,000 issued patents and 6,800 applications, for $12.5 billion — making it the biggest ever takeover by the internet giant so far.
The deal will boost Google’s competitive edge in the mobile computing arena as well as give it access to Motorola’s range of Android operating system-based offerings.
Both Google and Motorola have a good presence in India.
Commenting on the approval, Google said, "We are happy that the EU approved our proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which we announced in August. This is an important milestone in the approval process and it moves us closer to closing the deal. We are now just waiting for decisions from a few other jurisdictions before we can close this transaction."
