Google is to buy Motorola Mobility for $US12.5 billion.
It's the first significant move into hardware by the giant internet company.
A joint statement says the boards of both companies unanimously approved the deal which should be completed by the end of this year or early next.
Google said it would continue to run Mobility as a separate business.
The BBC reports Motorola split into two separate companies earlier this year. Mobility develops and manufactures mobile phones, while Motorola Solutions covers wider technologies for corporate customers and governments.
Motorola holds 24,500 patents in wireless telephony.
