Why Arris Wants Motorola Home More Than Google Ever Did

It's becoming pretty clear that Google only loves Motorola Mobility for its smartphone brains. The set-top box division might have been a good fit with the Google Fiber project and other tie-ins to the living room, but that idea was just put on ice -- permanently.

Cable industry infrastructure veteran Arris has agreed to take that set-top box business off Google's hands for a cool $2.35 billion. The cash-plus-stock deal will give Google a 16% ownership stake in Arris. Big G vaults right past investment firm BlackRock's 10% holdings to become Arris' largest shareholder.

Arris will own some of Motorola's technology patents and take a license to "a wide array" of the patents remaining under the Google umbrella.

Google shares were largely unchanged by the announcement, but Arris jumped as much as 10% on the news.

The deal will instantly triple Arris' revenue and is expected to add to the buyer's earnings right away, and should close in the first half of 2013. Arris will fund the $2 billion cash portion of the contract with new debt. The deal creates an end-to-end cable equipment beast to rival Cisco Systems , which also builds both back-end systems and customer-facing equipment for the cable TV market.

So what's in it for Google? You might think that Google signed on the dotted line to remove the risk of pending TiVo litigation, but that's not exactly right: Google actually agreed to indemnify Arris and pick up the legal bill in case TiVo wins big.

After this transaction, the effective price tag for Motorola Mobility shrinks to roughly $10 billion. Hardware sales aren't exactly in Google's wheelhouse, so the move should also reduce the operational risk of that massive acquisition.

As one of the most dominant Internet companies ever, Google has made a habit of driving strong returns for its shareholders. However, like many other web companies, it's also struggling to adapt to an increasingly mobile world. Despite gaining an enviable lead with its Android operating system, the market isn't sold. That's why it's more important than ever to understand each piece of Google's sprawling empire. In The Motley Fool's new premium research report on Google, we break down the risks and potential rewards for Google investors. Simply click here now to unlock your copy of this invaluable resource, and you'll receive a bonus year's worth of key updates and expert guidance as news continues to develop.

The article Why Arris Wants Motorola Home More Than Google Ever Did originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund owns shares of TiVo and Google but holds no other position in any company mentioned. Check out Anders' bio and holdings or follow him on Twitter and Google+.The Motley Fool owns shares of Google and Cisco. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Cisco, BlackRock, and Google. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.