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Apparently, Motorola Mobility had a lot of suitors.
GigaOm reports that several parties were in acquisition talks with Motorola, which eventually got scooped up by Google for a $12.5 billion. Among the other potential buyers was Microsoft.
Microsoft purchasing Motorola could have added to the software giant’s already impressive patent portfolio, and given Google and Android limited legal breathing room. The threat of a tie-up with Microsoft brought Google to the negotiation table, GigaOm said.
That’s likely why Google opted to pay a 60 percent premium for Motorola, which had seen its stock steadily decline over the past eight months. In addition, Motorola opted to go with Google because Microsoft was only interested in the patents, the report said.
GigaOm said the talks began about five weeks ago, and largely kept to Google Chief Executive Larry Page and Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha.
A Microsoft spokeswoman declined to comment on the GigaOm report.
