Motorola Stockholders Say Yes to Google’s Indecent Proposal

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Motorola officially announced today that its stockholders have approved the merger with Google, although that doesn’t mean the purchase is complete yet.

We’re certainly not surprised to hear that shareholders appreciate the fact that Google wants to buy Motorola, a move that will allow the Search giant to make its own Android devices and finally make some cash off Android device sales. And it looks like almost every person that holds any Motorola stock wants the deal to go through, well, except for the ones that are suing the company because of it:

Approximately 99 percent of the shares voting at today’s Special Meeting of Stockholders voted in favor of the adoption of the merger agreement, which represented approximately 74 percent of Motorola Mobility’s total outstanding shares of common stock as of the October 11, 2011 record date for the Special Meeting.

Furthermore, Motorola noted that the deal should close in early 2012, not in late 2011 as was initially expected, as the two companies still face regulatory commissions that have to approve the merger. In case you forgot, Google agreed to pay $12.5 million for Motorola, or “$40.00 per share in cash,” as announced earlier this year, but there’s always a chance the deal will not go through, which is also something Motorola reminds us:

It is important to note however, that the merger is subject to various closing conditions, and it is possible that the failure to timely meet such conditions or other factors outside of the Company’s control could delay or prevent the Company from completing the merger altogether.

Eric Schmidt, Andy Rubin, and others have said that Motorola will not receive any preferential treatment should the merger be approved, and that’s certainly one aspect of the deal I’d be interested to follow in case regulatory commissions okay the merger. Because Google would have the power to favor Motorola when it comes to Android OS updates, not to mention costs and other subsidies when it comes to selling future Google Android devices made by Motorola. But we’ll cover such matters once the merger is complete.