Google bid against itself in Motorola negotations
updated 10:10 pm EDT, Tue September 13, 2011
Search giant paid 30 percent over first bid
Google reportedly bid against itself during the negotiations that led to the company's Motorola Mobility acquisition. A proxy statement posted by the SEC sheds light on details surrounding the deal, which could have been made for $30 per share if Motorola and its advisory firm, Qatalyst Group, had not pushed Google to make secondary offers that consequently brought the purchase price up to $40 per share.
The statement suggests that Motorola executives and advisors met on August 5 to discuss a number of factors, including the status of ongoing patent litigation and potential outcome from settlements in the case. Qatalyst was instructed to reject the $30-per-share offer in the non-competitive bidding process and ask for $43.50 per share. Google responded with an offer of $37 per share but eventually agreed to $40.
The final agreement effectively brought the total buyout price up to $12.5 billion, significantly more than any of Google's previous acquisitions. The search giant had spent $3.1 billion on the advertising firm DoubleClick, while the YouTube buyout cost $1.65 billion. [via Wall Street Journal]
