In recent years, Google has aggressively acquired new companies and brands, adding to its enormous empire. Its latest acquisition is Motorola Mobility. The deal was announced yesterday. Priced at a whopping $12.5 billion this is Google’s most expensive acquisition yet.
In the recent past, Google has managed other headline making deals such as the purchase of Android and YouTube. But the Motorola Mobility deal outstrips these. Many are already questioning whether this is a sensible step on the part of Google. However, such questions are nothing new to the search engine giant that has acquired more than 100 companies over the last decade.
Skeptics are not convinced that Google should be spending billions on a handset hardware manufacturer. After all, they argue, Google is a software giant; should it be dabbling in the low-margin manufacturing business at all? Then again, Google’s gambles have paid off in the past, specifically the deals involving startups Android and YouTube.
In this case, Google will be eyeing Motorola’s rich patent portfolio to provide protection for the Android. According to Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha, the company has 17,000 patents and 7,500 pending ones. The company could provide a protective cushion for the Android, and the price is something Google is willing to pay.
Here is a look at Google’s ten most expensive acquisitions to date:
1. dMarc Broadcasting, $102 million
2. On2 Technologies, $133 million
3. Slide.com, $182 million
4. Admeld, $400 million
5. Postini, $625 million
6. ITA Software, $700 million
7. AdMob, $750 million
8. YouTube, $1.65 billion
9. DoubleClick, $3.1 billion
10. Motorola Mobility, $12.5 billion
Via: Huffington Post, Mashable, Gigaom.com
