Motorola Tried To Buy PalmSource: Report

Motorola tried unsuccessfully to acquire PalmSource and is now asking a federal judge for an $8.7 million termination fee to compensate for the failed transaction, the Bloomberg News service reported this week.

Motorola claimed in court documents quoted in the news report that it had offered PalmSource $17.25 a share to acquire the Palm OS developer. PalmSource initially accepted the offer, then backed out shortly afterward to accept a $18.50 per share offer from Japan mobile software vendor Access Co. Ltd., according to the Bloomberg report.

Bloomberg quoted the court documents filed by Motorola as claiming that PalmSource was obligated to pay the $8.7 million break-up fee by September 16 but failed to do so.

BusinessWeek reported last month that Palm also was a serious bidder for PalmSource but as other companies started bidding, the price became too high for Palm, a one-time corporate sibling of PalmSource.