The deal deepens Google’s investments in its Pixel line up.

On Thursday, in a joint statement, Alphabet Inc’s Google and HTC, have said, the former will acquire a stake in HTC’s smartphone operations for $1.1 billion.

As part of the agreement, Google will acquire a team of people who develop Pixel smartphones for the U.S. firm and receive a non-exclusive license for the Taiwanese firm’s intellectual property.

The deal, subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close by early 2018.

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Tags: 2018, Alphabet, expected closure, Google, HTC, intellectual property, IP, non-exclusive license, Pixel, purchase, regulatory approval, smartphone, stake