Google-Motorola Mobility $12.5 billion Deal gets China OK, layoffs imminent 

Chinese anti-trust authorities have approved Google-Motorola Mobility, $12.5 billion Deal, with a pledge from Google that it would keep Android free and available without discrimination to all device makers for at least 5 years. Regulators in other major markets, including the U.S. Justice Department and European Union regulators approved the deal.

By acquiring Motorola (MMI), Google (GOOG) is for the first time taking over a company which makes hardware – in this case, phones, tablets and set-top boxes.

Owning the rights to more then 17,000 patents, will provide Google who rely on its Android software with valuable weapons in an intellectual arms race with Apple, Microsoft and other technology giants.

Motorola Mobility

• The takeover will be Google’s largest ever.
• Layoffs at Motorola Mobility are expected as a result of the deal.
• On Aug. 15, 2011, Google announced its intent to acquire Motorola Mobility.
• Motorola Mobility filed an 8-K form that notes that it will close in the next two business days.
• Motorola Mobility have over 17,000 patents, many of them relating to mobile phones.
• Google’s next step is a scheduled “listening tour” of the company, which reportedly has about 19,000 employees, before beginning to make decisions.

According to Ingrid Lunden, Google  will launch a “listening tour” around Motorola to see what its employees do at the company. Based on that information, Google could decide to lay off some Motorola employees. TechCrunch didn’t say how many employees Google might layoff, but did say that the sources believe the decision could come “imminently.”