EU delays Google Motorola merger

Google's takeover of Motorola Mobility faces a delay after EU regulators suspended their review of the deal, according to BBC News.

The European Commission has revealed that it halted the approval process last week, and requested more information.

Motorola split in two earlier this year. Google subsequently offered $12.5bn in August for the part that makes phones and tablet computers.

The EU has the power to block the tie-up or demand that it be amended. The takeover will give Google access to more than 17,000 of Motorola Mobility's patents.

Chief executive Larry Page has said the move will "enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies".

Last week Motorola Mobility won the first round of a separate patent battle against Apple in Germany's courts. That could potentially give Google leverage to negotiate a wider settlement.

The European Commission had originally intended to rule on the tie-up by 10 January. It told the BBC it would publish a new deadline at a later point.

"The deadline is suspended because the commission needs from Google certain documents that are essential to its evaluation of the transaction," said Amelia Torres, spokeswoman for the competition commissioner.

"Once the commission has all the necessary information, it will restart the clock and publish a new phase one deadline on the website."

Legal experts say it is not unusual for the commission to take this step.

"It's quite common to stop the clock - it's done in a significant minority of cases," said Simon Holmes, head of EU and competition law at SJ Berwin.

"The question that will be in a lot of investors' minds is whether or not they will be able to clear it in a phase one investigation, or whether they will refer it to a more detailed phase two investigation."