Google to acquire a Data Analytics firm Looker Data Science for $2.6 billion: Here are all the details

To focus more on its cloud-based services, Google has agreed to buy the Looker Data Sciences for $2.6 billion. Google announced its acquisition of the new company on Thursday, June 6 and this gives the company a tool with which it can sell more cloud storage and software related to the cloud. Other than Google, Amazon and Microsoft have also started focusing more on cloud-based services. Considering that Amazon and Microsoft already have made a name for themselves in the cloud business, it puts Google at a very competitive place.

The acquired company – Looker – is located in Santa Cruz, California and it helps the companies to visualize and analyse the data that they store on the cloud. We should mention that Google had to pay $2.6 billion for the deal, making it one of the biggest acquisitions by the company yet. Back in 2014, the search giant acquired the smart home company named Nest Labs for a staggering $3.2 billion. But since the company is facing an antitrust investigation by the US Department of Justice, any of the deals which the company makes will be monitored.

It should be noted that many technology companies think that Cloud is the next step in the internet and world wide web services. That is the reason Microsoft and Amazon and other big companies are focusing so much on the Cloud. A few days earlier, Sony too partnered with Microsoft so that it could use the Azure cloud system that Microsoft owns. So, Cloud is an important aspect for Google’s growth as well, as its search advertising business is slowing down.

According to Bloomberg’s Intelligence analyst, Jennifer Rie, “I think it will get scrutiny because these are complicated businesses and there is so much sensitivity around small acquisitions by the big tech companies.” The deal also won’t “disadvantage any other competitors or have any real potential for harm. I do think the regulators will take a close look, however.”

Thomas Kurian, the head of Cloud said that even though the company has acquired Looker, it won’t stop it from doing business with other companies and its competitors as they have to rely on more than one cloud services to function.

Kurian said, “Many people have asked us for many months, ‘Are you rushing to do acquisitions? We’ve been very disciplined in building our sales, go-to-market capability, and our own products. We’ve chosen Looker as a very complimentary technology that a lot of customers will find value in very quickly.”

The acquisition of Looker by Google will be completed later this year. But it should be noted that both the companies already share more than 350 joint customers and some of the companies include King, Hearst, yahoo, WPP Essence and more. So, the acquisition will help Google strengthen its hold on the tech industry.