Google has agreed to pay Motorola Mobility $2.5 billion if its planned acquisition of the cell phone vendor fails to close, Bloomberg claims. The report cites an anonymous source as having revealed the figure, which Bloomberg says is more than six times the typical breakup fee for such deals. Google announced on Monday that it plans to acquire Android smartphone and tablet vendor Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. While the proposed deal would give Google complete control over future Android device experiences, it would also add approximately 25,000 patents to the tech giant’s portfolio as it prepares to do battle with the likes of Apple and Microsoft. These patents are seemingly so important to Google that it is willing to part with a massive sum should its acquisition fail to get necessary approval. “A high reverse breakup fee shows the buyer’s confidence of getting the deal done,” Donna Hitscherich, a senior lecturer in finance at Columbia Business School, told Bloomberg. “People don’t do deals to get the breakup fee, they do them to get the deals done.”
Google to cough up $2.5 billion if Motorola deal falls through
Updated Dec 19th, 2018 7:25PM EST
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Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 15 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.
His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.
