SAN FRANCISCO – Internet giant nabs $750m stake in Chinese giant
Google is said to have handed over $750 million for just under six percent of Chinese hardware maker Lenovo, following its sale of mobile giant Motorola to the company.
Reuters reported that it has taken a 5.94 percent stake, or 618.3 million shares in Lenovo priced at $1.213 per share.
Just last week, Google announced it was selling its loss making Motorola for just US$2.9 billion, just one quarter of the $12.4 bn price it paid for the mobility giant, in 2012.
The investment in Lenovo, now the worlds’s biggest PC maker, shows the search giant still wants a piece of the hardware action, however tiny, as it focuses on emerging technologies including home automation and robotics, with its latest acquisitions.
The share purchase will only go through once Lenovo’s takeover of Motorola has been finalised, according to the report.
Larry Page, Google CEO said last week, “we believe that Motorola will be better served by Lenovo-which has a rapidly growing smartphone business and is the largest (and fastest-growing) PC manufacturer in the world.
“Lenovo has a proven track record of successfully embracing and strengthening great brands – as we did with IBM’s Think brand – and smoothly and efficiently integrating companies around-the-world. “
