BRUSSELS — European antitrust regulators have suspended their investigation into Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a maker of smartphones, until Google provides additional evidence in the case, the European Commission said Monday.
Google needed to supply “certain documents that are essential for the evaluation of the transaction,” Amelia Torres, a spokeswoman for the commission, said. “Once we have all the documents, we’ll restart the clock.”
Ms. Torres declined to give any details about the nature of the documents at the center of the latest tussle between Google and European regulators.
Google already is trying to fend off a separate investigation by the commission into whether the company has abused its dominant position in online search and advertising.
Google filed late last month for European clearance to complete the deal with Motorola, worth $12.5 billion.
With its purchase, Google would obtain a portfolio of patents that could give it an impressive defense against infringement lawsuits.
But the acquisition could also aggravate antitrust concerns by further bolstering Google’s strength in the markets for mobile search and advertising.
“We’re confident the commission will conclude that this acquisition is good for competition and we’ll be working closely and cooperatively with them as they continue their review,” Al Verney, a spokesman for Google, said.
Such requests were “routine,” he said.
Joaquín Almunia, the E.U. competition commissioner, had been scheduled to decide whether to clear the transaction, or to take a few more months to review the deal for antitrust concerns, by Jan. 10.
The U.S. Justice Department has already sent Google and Motorola Mobility a request for additional information, lengthening the U.S. review process.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=5a25b7ee29951d93742cd3bb6e5cc948
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