SAN
FRANCISCO: Google is finalizing a deal to acquire online mapping
company Waze for $1.3 billion, according to a source familiar with the
matter.
The deal is expected to be announced this week, though it was unlikely to occur on Monday, another source told Reuters.
"Negotiations
are nearly final. There are a couple of details being worked out," the
second source said. The source described the remaining details as
"logistics" rather than significant sticking points.
Google and Waze declined to comment.
The
deal with Google comes after discussions between Waze and social
networking company Facebook Inc fell apart last month, according to a
report in the technology blog AllThingsDigital. Waze was unwilling to
relocate its Israeli-based engineering team to Facebook's U.S.
headquarters, according to the report.
Maps
and navigation services have become a key asset for technology companies
as consumers increasingly adopt smartphones and other mobile devices.
Waze uses satellite signals from members' smartphones to generate maps
and traffic data, which it then shares with other users, offering
real-time traffic info.
Google's existing maps service is among the most popular, which could raise antitrust issues for the deal.
The
4-year-old Waze, which has 47 million users, has raised $67 million in
funding to date from firms including Kleiner Perkins Caufield &
Byers, Blue Run Ventures and semiconductor company Qualcomm.
Waze
began looking to raise additional funding toward the end of last year,
according to a third source close to the company. As the fund raising
process got underway, Waze received interest from several companies
about an acquisition, and it switched gears to focus its efforts on an
acquisition, the source said.
There had been
media reports earlier this year that Apple Inc was in talks to acquire
Waze. News of the deal with Google was first reported by Israeli
financial newspaper Globes on Sunday.
Waze
Chief Executive Noam Bardin and a small staff now operate out of their
US headquarters in Palo Alto, California, while about 90 employees are
based in home country Israel.
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