Google has announced the completion of a US$ 1.1 billion deal with HTC. The deal was confirmed in September 2017 but, it has now passed the requisite approvals and is finalised.

Rick Osterloh (Google) and Cher Wang (HTC)

The acquisition will see the transfer of over 2,000 engineers from HTC. Along with the transfer, the company will also receive a non-exclusive license for HTC’s intellectual property. HTC is retaining its Vive VR division and confirmed that it will continue making smartphones.  Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior VP of hardware, wrote:

I’m [...]

Google and HTC announced a Cooperative Agreement worth US$1.1 billion wherein HTC’s smartphone engineers will work for Google once the transaction is completed. While more details about the deal will be disclosed in the days to come, the press release promptly answered one question everybody had on their minds – Will there be more HTC Android phones? The answer is, yes there will be.

This agreement also supports HTC’s continued branded smartphone strategy, enabling a more streamlined product portfolio, greater operational efficiency and financial flexibility. HTC will continue to have best-in-class engineering talent, which is currently working on the next [...]

It seems the year 2014 would be known as ‘The year of takeovers’. In just the last few months we have seen some major billion dollar acquisitions by tech giants. Without a doubt the golden throne of big dollar takeovers is ruled by Mark Zuckerberg with his takeover of Oculus, Whatsapp and Liverail. Microsoft finished the $7.2 billion acquition of Nokia this year. Google is now planning its own billion dollar deal. The Search giants are now interested in taking over gaming video streaming network Twitch under the Youtube brand name.

It was reported in Variety and the Wall Street Journal that Google was in talks with [...]