Technology giant, Google on Thursday said it signed a $1.1 billion cooperation agreement with Taiwanese smart phone maker HTC to bolster its smartphone and emerging hardware business.
Under the agreement, Google will acquire a team of approximately 2,000 HTC employees, many of whom have worked with the company on its Pixel smartphone. As part of the transaction, HTC will receive $1.1 billion in cash.
Separately, Google will also receive a non-exclusive license for HTC intellectual property.
The move formalizes a long-awaited tie-up that could further Google’s ambitions in the mobile phone and virtual reality industries and may rescue HTC’s flagging business.
“This agreement is a brilliant next step in our longstanding partnership, enabling Google to supercharge their hardware business while ensuring continued innovation within our HTC smartphone and VIVE virtual reality businesses,” Cher Wang, chairwoman and CEO at HTC, said in a prepared statement.
