Lenovo to buy Motorola business for $2 billion

Lenovo Group Ltd is likely to buy Google Inc’s Motorola Mobility business, giving the Chinese company a bigger say in the global tablet and smartphone market.

The acquisition, worth at least $2 billion, will include more than 10,000 mobile communications patents currently held by the United States company, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The deal is expected to be announced on Thursday morning in Beijing.

Lenovo refused to comment, only saying the announcement is about a “major acquisition.”

The world’s largest personal computer maker is speeding its pace challenging Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co in the global consumer electronics sector.

Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of Lenovo, said the company’s tablets and smartphones will be entering the US and western European markets by 2015. The region is dominated by Apple and Samsung.

Motorola Mobility was a money-loss subsidiary for Google. The segment reported a $248 million operating loss during the third quarter of 2013, according to Google’s financial report.

Google acquired Motorola Mobility in 2011, spending about $12.5 billion.

Lenovo said a week ago it will buy IBM Corp’s x86 server unit for $2.3 billion, if the US government approves the acquisition, it will be the largest deal involving a Chinese tech company.