Google has confirmed that Chinese authorities have approved its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola.
According to widespread reports confirmation of the deal was given on Sunday and now means the deal has been approved by all major jurisdictions. Both European and U.S. authorities gave their approvals for the deal in February.
At that time, though, they warned Google that it would remain under scrutiny for any suggestion that it used the purchase of Motorola for anti-competitive practices.
A source familiar with the Chinese approval process said the deal was given with the requirement that the Android system remain free and open to use for five years, according to Reuters.
"We are pleased that the deal received regulatory approval in all jurisdictions and we look forward to closing early this week," said a Motorola spokesperson.
Google’s purchase of Motorola was first announced in August 2011 and is primarily designed to give the firm access to a trove of important mobile and wireless patents to help its protect its Android platform against legal threats from the likes of Microsoft.
UPDATE May 22: Google has officially announced the acquisition. See the full post from Google CEO Larry Page, in which he announces the departure of Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha, who will be replaced by Google's Dennis Woodside.
This article was originally published on V3.
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