Way back in mid-August, it was announced that Google and Motorola had reached an agreement that would see Google acquiring Motorola for $12.5 billion. Just like other similar deals, the Google-Motorola has to receive regulatory approval before it can be closed, and it looks like it may not be long before the two companies get just that. According to "people familiar with the matter" speaking to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Justice Department is set to give the acquisition the green light as soon as next week. The European Commission has said that it will decide whether or not to clear the deal by Monday. However, the WSJ's added that some antitrust folks both in the U.S. and Europe are concerned about Google licensing the patents it'll gain from Motorola on fair terms, so they'll likely be keeping a close eye on how Google uses those patents.
We've heard a couple of times in the past that Google and Motorola expected the deal to close sometime in early 2012, and it looks like that estimate is going to be spot-on. Google has said that it will run Motorola as a separate business once the deal is closed and that it intends to continue to work with all of its partners on creating and distribution Android devices. We'll let you know more on the approval process or the Google-Motorola deal as we get it.
