Competition watchdog prepares probe into Google takeover of data firm Looker
The Competition and Markets Authority wants to assess any impact the deal could have on competition for the UK and other markets.
Google’s buyout of data analytics firm Looker is to be probed by the UK’s competition watchdog to determine the deal’s impact on the UK and other markets.
The tech giant announced the 2.6 billion dollar (£2 billion) acquisition of the California-founded firm in June as part of an effort to expand its Google Cloud business.
Both companies were already working together before the agreement was reached, with around 350 customers such as Buzzfeed, Hearst and Yahoo!
For it to carry out its assessment, the watchdog is seeking comment from any interested party by December 20.
On revealing the move earlier this year, Google Cloud chief executive Thomas Kurian said: “The addition of Looker to Google Cloud will help us offer customers a more complete analytics solution from ingesting data to visualising results and integrating data and insights into their daily workflows.”
