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Google Has Made an Offer to Buy Fitbit The Motley Fool

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Reports first surfaceda little over a month ago that Fitbit was putting itself on the auction block, and it seems that the process is moving along. While there's a strong case that Amazon.com would be a good fit to buy Fitbit, Alphabet subsidiary Google had been quickly named as a potential suitor, too.

Reuters reports that Google has formally made an offer to scoop up the wearable tech company, sending Fitbit shares 31% higher by the close.

The reports did not specify how much Google has put on the table, and the outlets' sources note that talks could still fall through and an acquisition may not materialize.

Following the Versa Lite debacle, the company launched the Versa 2, and investors are awaiting indications from management on how that smartwatch is selling.

Third-party manufacturers have largely abandoned Google's wearable platform in favor of proprietary operating systems like Samsung's Tizen, which powers the South Korean conglomerate's Galaxy Watch.

It's still unclear what intellectual property Google bought from the accessory maker, but some employees were part of that deal as well.

Buying Fitbit would mean that Google would have two disparate smartwatch platforms. Fitbit had assembled its platform by cobbling together parts from Coin, Vector, and Pebble, three companies it had acquired over the years.

Original article