Fitbit surges 17% after Google agrees to buy the company for $2.1 billion

Reuters

• Shares of Fitbit surged 17% Friday after Google agreed to buy the company for $2.1 billion.
• The acquisition is expected to help Google expand into the smartwatch market to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung.
• The news confirms a report from earlier this week that the search giant had made an offer to purchase the wearables company.
• Watch Fitbit trade live on Markets Insider.

Fitbit's stock price soared 17% Friday after Google agreed to buy the wearables company for $2.1 billion, or $7.35 per share in cash.

"Google is an ideal partner to advance our mission," Fitbit CEO James Park said in a statement.

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Park added: "With Google's resources and global platform, Fitbit will be able to accelerate innovation in the wearables category, scale faster, and make health even more accessible to everyone. I could not be more excited for what lies ahead."

The deal is expected to close in 2020, according to a press release. Fitbit's shares halted trading around 8:37 a.m. pending the release of the news. Trading resumed around 9:12 a.m.

Shares of Fitbit already surged 31% earlier this week after Reuters reported that Google-parent Alphabet made an offer to buy the company.

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The acquisition is expected to help Google expand further into wearable devices to compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple.

Fitbit has struggled to compete on its own in the smartwatch market following the massive success of the Apple Watch. The company's share price has fallen almost 70% since it went public around $20 a share in 2015.

The trade war between the US and China has also taken a toll on Fitbit. In early October, the company said it planned to move manufacturing out of China to avoid the additional cost of tariffs.

The company's stock price was up 24% year-to-date through Thursday's close.

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