Google Offers No Remedies to EU Over Motorola Mobility Deal

Google Inc., the biggest maker of smartphone software, didn’t offer concessions to allay potential European Commission concerns over its plan to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for $12.5 billion.

Google didn’t submit remedies by last night’s deadline, Antoine Colombani, a spokesman for the commission in Brussels, said in a phone interview. The regulator will rule on the deal by Feb. 13, Colombani said. The commission can either clear the deal or open an in-depth probe lasting about 90 working days.

Regulatory reviews mean the purchase by Google is likely to close in 2012, Motorola said in November. Mountain View, California-based Google plans to use Motorola Mobility’s more than 17,000 patents to protect supporters of its Android software in licensing and legal disputes with rivals such as Apple Inc. and also move into the hardware business.

Al Verney, a spokesman for Google in Brussels, declined to comment on the EU antitrust review.

Motorola Mobility shares declined 0.7 percent to $38.55 at 10.40 a.m. in New York trading, after falling as much as 1.5 percent. Google retreated 0.4 percent to $606.82 after falling as much as 0.9 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aoife White in Brussels at awhite62@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net.