Google looks to be in the clear concerning their recent acquisition of Israel-based navigation company Waze, according to a report from Bloomberg.
They cite sources familiar with the matter who say that antitrust regulators will not challenge Google on the purchase, which took place this past June.
Google has gone so far as to say that Waze’s team will remain a separate operation for now, and Google is “excited about the prospect of enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze and enhancing Waze with Google’s search capabilities.”
Shortly after Google announced its Waze acquisition, the company confirmed that it had been contacted by the FTC about a possible review. But the report indicated that it would be very unlikely that the FTC would have Google reverse the deal without considerable evidence that it would stifle competition. Of course, the Waze acquisition only makes the dominant Google Maps even more dominant – but apparently not enough to force any action from antitrust regulators.
Reports have indicated that the deal was worth upwards of $1.1 to $1.3 billion. Before Google pulled the trigger on Waze, both Apple and Facebook pondered a possible courtship.
Image via Waze