Taiwan’s HTC to sell part of XR unit to Google for $250 million By Reuters

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan’s HTC said on Thursday it will sell part of its unit for augmented reality (XR) headsets and glasses to Google (NASDAQ: ) for $250 million and transfer some of its employees to the U.S. company.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of this year, HTC said.

The two companies will also explore further opportunities for cooperation, HTC added.

Google said in a separate statement that the deal will accelerate the development of the Android XR platform and strengthen the headset and glasses ecosystem.

Lu Chia-te, HTC’s vice president and general counsel, told reporters that the company has granted its intellectual property rights to Google as a non-exclusive license.

“Therefore, this is not a purchase or an exclusive license. In the future, HTC will still retain the right to use, use and even further develop it without any restrictions,” he said.