"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."
-Walt Disney
June 06,2019
Google to Acquire Data Analytics Provider Looker for $2.6B
martinwolf Transaction Analysis
Financial Information
- Enterprise Value: $2.6B
Transaction Facts
- Alphabet Inc.’s Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) announced today that it plans to acquire business-intelligence and data-analytics company Looker for $2.6 billion in cash.
- The acquisition adds new cloud capabilities to Google’s Cloud by expanding Looker’s capability to analyze data.
- Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian noted that Looker will provide an end-to-end analytics platform to connect, analyze and visualize data across platforms such as Google Cloud, Azure, AWS and on-premises databases and ISV applications.
- This acquisition is Google’s fourth largest acquisition in company history. According to numbers released in Looker’s last financing round in late 2018, the company had 1,600 customers and a revenue run rate of $100M, growing 70 percent year over year.
- Shares of Google parent company Alphabet were flat in Thursday morning trading.
- The transaction is expected to close later this year subject to regulatory approval.
martinwolf Analysis
- Strong Start for Kurian: Long-time Oracle executive Kurian transitioned to his new role as Google Cloud’s CEO in November of 2018. In his first appearance after his appointment, he announced at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference that Google would invest even more in sales for its cloud business, looking to challenge the cloud market leaders. Looker adds powerful tools to the existing Google portfolio, such as its new Sales Analytics tool that bolsters its analytics capabilities within sales organizations.
- A Real Looker: Since Looker’s founding in 2012, it has continued to quickly grow and become one of top private cloud-players in the industry. According to Crunchbase, the company has raised a total of over $280 million in venture capital, with its last round of Series E funding led by Premji Invest raising $103 million. Last September, Forbes included Looker on its 2018 Cloud 100, a list that has featured many of the top cloud IPOs and cloud acquisitions in the past three years.
- Cloud(y) Skies Ahead: While Google’s parent company Alphabet missed on both revenue and earnings estimates in April, its cloud offerings were the fastest growing compared to its peers AWS and Microsoft Azure that dominate a larger share of the market. With the cloud becoming central to today’s businesses, Google’s acquisition of Looker helps close the gap between it and its competitors.
For more information about this transaction, click here to read the press release.
martinwolf was not the advisor in this transaction.
