Fitbit Inc. FIT,
announced Thursday morning that its acquisition by Alphabet Inc.’s [s; GOOGL]
GOOG,
Google officially closed. Alphabet agreed to pay about $ 2.1 billion, or $ 7.35 per share, to acquire Fitbit. The deal was first announced in November 2019, but faced regulatory resistance, especially in the European Union. European regulators who were examining the deal ended up giving their approval last month after securing Google’s commitments to data privacy. “Google will continue to protect the privacy of Fitbit users and has made a number of binding commitments to global regulators, confirming that Fitbit users’ health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads and this data will be kept separate from other Google ads given, “Chief Executive James Park said in a letter to Fitbit users on Thursday. Fitbit’s actions were halted before the announcement. Fitbit’s shares gained 5.2% over a 12-month period compared to a 16% increase for the S&P 500 SPX,
over the same period.
