• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 20, 2017

Reports suggest Google will announce an investment in HTC Technologies' smartphone division on Thursday.

The hardware company will stop trading its stock on the TWSE tomorrow, ahead of releasing “material information” pertaining to its business, reports the stock exchange and several media outlets.

For Alphabet, Google's parent company, the investment in, or acquisition of, HTC's smartphone division could augment revenue from its advertising business.

Google is no doubt focused on the company's hardware and engineering assets, but has declined in the past to comment on speculation about the acquisition.

Bloomberg on Wednesday published a report suggesting that Google is close to purchasing HTC's assets. This is not the first time Google has made a play for a smartphone manufacturer. The company acquired the Motorola Mobility Group in 2011, but sold it to Lenovo in 2014 for $2.91 billion.