The Competition Commission of India has said that chip maker Intel has signed an agreement to acquire Motorola Mobility's assets, including patents. The panel has given the deal a green signal.

But it is not clear as to which assets of Motorola Mobility are being bought out by Intel. It was earlier reported that Google had paid $12.4 billion to buy Motorola Mobility’s assets globally.

According to a press release issued by the competition panel, the proposed deal between Intel and Motorola Mobility relates to acquisition by Intel of certain assets of Motorala Mobility, including non-Indian intellectual property rights which include patents, their application, tangible assets of Motorala in the US and rights to hire some US employees. Intel and Motorola Mobility had reached ‘Asset Purchase Agreement’ in December 2012, the press release said.

Intel is present in India through its subsidiaries Intel Technology, McAfee and Wind River Systems. Intel Tech India has three primary business – Intel India Development Centre, Consulting Service and Sales and Marketing Group.

“The market for cellular baseband processors is competitive on account of presence of major players including Qualcomm, MediaTek, Texas Instruments and Broadcom. The assets of Motorola Mobility which are being acquired by Intel do not presently generate any revenue in India and hence the proposed combination is unlikely to give rise to competition,” CCI said in its order.

Motorola Mobility subsidiaries in India are Motorola Mobility India and Motorola Mobility Chennai.

According to the order, Intel is a recent entrant into the production of components for wireless handheld devices including cellular baseband processors.

bindu.menon@thehindu.co.in

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