Sorry folks, Google won’t own any Lenovo shares until the Motorola deal goes through

You may have read one or two stories circulating today about Google buying shares in Chinese tech giant Lenovo. Thing is, that’s not really accurate.

According to the original reports, Google had purchased US$750-million worth of shares in Lenovo, giving it a 5.94% stake in the company. The news was based on a disclosure on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

As Re/code’s Ina Fried points out though, reading the disclosure in that way is completely erroneous.

The amount is actually the stake Google will take in Lenovo once the Chinese company’s acquisition of Motorola goes through. The deal, it’s worth remembering, was made in a combination of cash and shares.

All that Lenovo was disclosing therefore is how much of the company Google might own if the deal is allowed to go through.