Google to acquire Fitbit, valuing the smartwatch maker at about $2.1 billion

Google parent company Alphabet will buy Fitbit, putting the tech giant head to head with Apple in the fitness tracking space. The deal values Fitbit around $2.1 billion at a fully diluted equity value, according to Friday's announcement.

Fitbit's stock surged 16%, while shares of Alphabet were up about 0.8%

Google will pay $7.35 per share in cash for the acquisition, Fitbit said. Fitbit's all time high share price was $51.90 on Aug. 5, 2015, a couple months after its stock market debut at $30.40. The deal is expected to close in 2020, according to the announcement.

On Monday, Fitbit's stock surged more than 30% on news that Alphabet had made an offer to acquire the smartwatch maker. As of Monday's close, Fitbit's market cap sat at $1.5 billion, up $340 million from the previous trading day.

Fitbit Insire HR

Todd Haselton | CNBC

Following the announcement, Google's hardware chief Rick Osterloh released a blog post explaining how the acquisition can help Google advance its ambitions for Wear OS, its software for smartwatches.

"By working closely with Fitbit's team of experts, and bringing together the best AI, software and hardware, we can help spur innovation in wearables and build products to benefit even more people around the world," Osterloh said. "Google also remains committed to Wear OS and our ecosystem partners, and we plan to work closely with Fitbit to combine the best of our respective smartwatch and fitness tracker platforms."

Google will not use health and wellness data from Fitbit for its ads, according to the announcement. That didn't convince Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., who is one of the leaders of an antitrust probe into Google. Cicilline said in a statement the acquisition "would also give the company deep insights into Americans' most sensitive information."

"This proposed transaction is a major test of antitrust enforcers' will and ability to enforce the law and halt anti-competitive concentrations of economic power. It deserves an immediate and thorough investigation," he said.

The move comes after Google announced a deal to buy $40 million worth of Fossil's smartwatch technology in January. Fossil was already one of the primary brands building smartwatches on Google's Wear OS.

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