The European Commission, tasked with overseeing and enforcing competition rules in the European market, revealed that it has halted its review of Google's proposed $12.5 billion buyout of Motorola Mobility. The regulators have requested more information from Google.
The deal requires approval from regulators on both sides of the pond, with the Department of Justice in the United States also set to probe it. Google will acquire over 17,000 patents from the deal.
"The European Commission has asked for more information, which is routine, while they review our Motorola Mobility acquisition," a Google spokeswoman said. "We're confident the commission will conclude that this acquisition is good for competition and we'll be working closely and co-operatively with them as they continue their review."
Analysts expect that the European Commission will sign off on the deal, with the only real potential sticky part being concerns over whether Google will favour Motorola Mobility over other manufacturers of smartphones that run the Android operating system.
Written by: James Delahunty @ 14 Dec 2011 1:27
