Slaughter and May advised Google on the competition law aspects of its US$1.1 billion acquisition of certain assets of HTC Corporation related to the design, engineering, certification and testing of smartphones.

Slaughter and May advised Google on the competition law aspects of its US$1.1 billion acquisition of certain assets of HTC Corporation (HTC) related to the design, engineering, certification and testing of smartphones.  In particular, Google acquired certain assets of HTC, including employees and a non-exclusive licence for intellectual property rights of HTC.

Announced on 21 September 2017, the transaction continues the decade-long strategic relationship between Google and HTC around the development of premium smartphones. The transaction also represents a significant investment by Google in Taiwan as a key innovation and technology hub. 

The transaction received clearance from the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission and was completed in January 2018.