Google Inc., based in Mountain View, California, has been very busy this year with acquisitions. In a previous post, we reported on Google’s purchase of ITA Software Inc., a travel data provider, for $676 million. We have also discussed Google’s more than $12 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., Google’s largest acquisition yet. With that major acquisition of patents Google hopes to protect its Android software worldwide.
More recently, Google has acquired Zagat Survey LLC for a reported $151 million. Zagat is known as a restaurant review service, most notably recognized by their burgundy colored restaurant guides.
In addition, Google also recently purchased Daily Deals for $114 million. Daily Deals is a privately held online commerce website that offers discounts on restaurants and services nationwide.
Altogether, Google has spent $1.44 billion for acquisitions thus far in 2011. Who knows what will be next in store for Google to acquire, but it appears that there is nothing is about to stop Google in its quest, except possibly the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
While Google has been keeping busy with all of its recent acquisitions this year, it has also been keeping the regulatory agencies that oversee these filings busy as well.
This is because Google’s expansion into all of these new markets does not come without some scrutiny. The FTC, along with the European commission and state attorneys general all want to review Google’s activity to make sure that all state and federal regulations are being complied with.
Google says it is willing to cooperate with agencies that are seeking information regarding its acquisitions. Google has, in fact, received several investigative demands from two different FTC divisions, along with state attorneys general from Texas, Ohio and Mississippi, and will be required to comply with their demands, alongside the closings of several of these most recent acquisitions.
Source: Bloomberg, “Google Discloses $151 Million Price Tag for Acquisition of Zagat Service,” Brian Womack, Oct. 26, 2011