Professor Voices » mergers & acquisitions

Google to buy Motorola Mobile

Jo Breiner — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:26:49 +0000

Google recently announced that it will acquire Motorola Mobile for $12.5 billion. Boston University School of Law lecturer James Bessen is the co-author of Patent Failure: How Judges, Bureaucrats, and Lawyers Put Innovators at Risk. He offers the following comment on the impact of the deal:

“This acquisition demonstrates that patents today are more about blocking innovation than encouraging it in information technology. Google is not buying these patents because it wants to use Motorola’s innovations. Google already has a highly innovative product and lots of innovation going on. Instead, it is buying Motorola’s patents to prevent Apple, Microsoft, etc., from keeping Google’s innovations off the market.”

Contact Bessen at 617-353-3110; jbessen@bu.edu

A boom in takeovers

Jo Breiner — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:21:02 +0000

Investment bankers believe that 2011 may be the busiest year for takeovers since 2007. Professor Allen Michel is an M&A expert from the Finance and Economics Department of Boston University’s School of Management. He offers the following comment on the recent boom of new takeover deals:

“Valuations are increasing because of the perceived increase in growth among both CEOs and economists.

“The key parameter in determining an appropriate multiple for an acquisition is the anticipated growth rate of the target’s cash flows. At this point in the business cycle, that value has grown significantly from the values apparent at the depths of the recession.

“I would expect those values to continue to increase, before falling back to more sustainable levels.”

Contact Allen Michel, 617-353-4167, amichel@bu.edu