GOOG: Google selling Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91B, will keep patents

Google selling Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91B, will keep patents • 5:25 PM

• Just an hour after reports emerged Google (GOOG) is set to sell Motorola's phone ops to Lenovo (LNVGY), the deal has been announced by Larry Page. Lenovo will pay $2.91B for the struggling, loss-generating smartphone maker; Google will retain the "vast majority" of its patents.
• Page explains the deal by stating the smartphone market is "super competitive," and that "it helps to be all-in." He promises the sale doesn't have broader implications for Google's hardware efforts.
• Google paid $12.5B for Motorola Mobility in 2011. After backing out the Lenovo sale, the Arris sale, and $3.5B in cash, Google effectively paid ~$3.7B for Motorola's patents, assuming one doesn't count the losses the phone unit has produced under Google's control.
• The sale expands Lenovo's U.S. presence, and gives it access to Motorola's respected hardware engineering teams as it tries to grab high-end Android share from market leader Samsung (SSNLF). IDC estimates Lenovo had a 4.9% smartphone share in Q4 (up from 4.1% a year ago).
• The sale shortly follows a report stating Google has pressured Samsung to tone down its Android UI changes and more strongly emphasize Google's apps/services, as it tries to exert greater control over Android's look and feel.
• GOOG +2.2% AH. In addition to the Motorola deal, shares could be getting a lift from Facebook's Q4 beat.

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