As one of the biggest technology exits of the year, it's worth spending some more time on this one.

Bill Burnham makes a strong case as to why Good Technology's sale to Motorola, which The Deal's Andrea Orr pegs at $500 million in cash, was actually a good exit for investors. In the comments section of his post, it's noted that early stage investors got a 2X return while later stage investors, who got in at a $1 billion valuation, may have, in the best case scenario, got their money back due to a liquidation preference.

Burnham also thinks it's an excellent deal for Motorola. Time will tell. Stewart Alsop, makes the point that this is actually the second time Motorola has purchased a synchronization technology company. In 1998, it purchased Starfish Software for another undisclosed amount in "the several hundred million dollar" range. Alsop remembers that Motorola had high hopes back then too:

'This from a Business Week commentary about Motorola in its August 10 issue of that year: "Thanks to Starfish, Motorola says, phones released within the next 18 months will store addresses, telephone numbers, and other data, just like 3Com Corp.'s (COMS) Palm organizer." I'm still waiting.'

That deal didn't turn out so well. A few years later, Motorola sold the Starfish assets to Intellisync's predecessor company, Pumatech, for a measly $1.7 million. Intellisync went on to a $430 million sale to Nokia.

Motorola? Well, Motorola went on to buy Good Technology for "several hundred million dollars". The company must be hoping that this one turns out better.

For more on Good Technology's sale to Motorola, see:
Bill Burnham
Stewart Alsop

Tags: good+technology, motorola, mobile, m&a, vc, venture+capital