Internet giant Google has agreed to buy smartphone maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.

Google offered $40 a share for Motorola Mobility, which is more than 60 percent higher than Friday’s closing price of the stock. The mobile phone manufacturing operations were previously spun off from Motorola as a separate company.

Reports in the financial press say Google is paying the premium to acquire Motorola’s 17,000 patents related to the competitive mobile phone industry.

Google makes the Android mobile phone operating system. It competes with Apple’s iPhone, Blackberry and others.