Google Buying Smartwatch-Maker Fitbit for $2.1 Billion

Google parent company Alphabet is buying Fitbit.

The acquisition pits Alphabet against fellow tech giant Apple in the wearable fitness tracking space.

Google is paying $7.35 per share in cash for FitBit, valuing the company at about $2.1 billion.

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

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.”

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.