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Google has closed its acquisition of data analytics firm Looker after a probe by the UK competition watchdog.
In June 2019, Google announced its plans to acquire data analytics start-up Looker in a deal worth $2.6bn, with the goal of adding Looker’s technology to Google Cloud. Prior to Google’s acquisition offer, US-headquartered Looker had raised more than $280m.
The move was seen as part of Google’s efforts to take on Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud space, and help Google build upon its BigQuery tool, which is used for managing large datasets.
Now, the acquisition has been completed after a review by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Both the CMA and US antitrust authorities concluded that the acquisition would not increase prices or harm rivals’ access to data.
Founded in 2012 in California, Looker offers a data exploration and discovery business intelligence platform to help companies analyse and share real-time business analytics, with more than 300 customers including Yahoo, GitHub, Deliveroo and HubSpot.
The company received funding from investors such as Redpoint, Meritech Capital Partners, First Round Capital, Kleiner Perkins, CapitalG and PremjiInvest.
Merging with Google Cloud
In a blogpost, Google Cloud chief executive Thomas Kurian said: “Together, we’re excited to offer customers a comprehensive analytics solution that integrates and visualises insights at every layer of their business.
“Today, hundreds of joint customers already rely on Google Cloud and Looker to make smarter business decisions. And by joining together, we believe we will be uniquely positioned to address the data analytics and business intelligence demands of even more enterprises globally, across all industries.
“Looker will strengthen Google Cloud’s analytics and data warehouse capabilities, including BigQuery, enabling our customers to address some of their toughest business challenges, faster – all while maintaining complete control of their data.”
Kurian added that Google Cloud and Looker share a “common philosophy” around delivering open solutions and supporting customers on Google Cloud, in public clouds or on premises.
“As more organisations adopt a multi-cloud strategy, Looker customers and partners can expect continued support of all cloud data management systems like Amazon Redshift, Azure SQL, Snowflake, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and Teradata,” he said.
Looker CEO Frank Bien added: “Joining Google Cloud provides us better reach, strengthens our resources and brings together some of the best minds in both analytics and cloud infrastructure to build an exciting path forward for our customers and partners. The mission that we undertook seven years ago as Looker takes a significant step forward beginning today.”
