Google eyes layoffs in wake of Motorola Mobility buy, report says
A new report from TechCrunch claims Google could lay off Motorola Mobility employees after it closes the deal later this week.
As Google prepares to close its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, the company could be considering laying off some Motorola employees, a new report suggests.
According to TechCrunch and its unnamed sources, Google will launch a "listening tour" around Motorola to see what its employees do at the company. Based on that information, Google could decide to lay off some Motorola employees. TechCrunch didn't say how many employees Google might layoff, but did say that the sources believe the decision could come "imminently."
Google announced plans to acquire Motorola Mobility in August for $12.5 billion, representing a 63 percent premium on the mobile firm's share price at the time. Although the U.S. Justice Department and European Union regulators approved the deal in February, Google didn't get the go-ahead to close the acquisition until this past weekend, when China's regulators gave it the green light.
In a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Motorola said that it expects to close the acquisition by Wednesday.
Google is by no means a stranger to layoffs. Back in 2008, for example, after acquiring online-advertising company DoubleClick, it announced that it had laid off 300 DoubleClick employees. That decision came just a few weeks after the deal closed.
"As with many mergers, this review has resulted in a reduction in headcount at the acquired company," Google said in a statement at the time. "Today, we are laying off some DoubleClick employees in the U.S. and placing others in transitional roles."
This time around, Google declined CNET's request for comment. We have also contacted Motorola Mobility for comment and will update this story when we have more information.