Google Inc, which won U.S. approval for its acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc, is close to naming Dennis Woodside to run the business when the deal closes, three people familiar with the matter said.

Woodside, who led Google's ad sales in the Americas before leaving that job to oversee the merger, would succeed Motorola Mobility Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Jha, said the people, who declined to be named because the decision isn't public.

Google is buying Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, gaining a trove of more than 17,000 patents that will help it fend off legal challenges to its Android mobile-phone software. The company is grappling with competition in smartphones and tablets from Apple Inc, whose software only runs on its own devices, contrasting with Google's approach of licensing the Android software to multiple manufacturers.