Stop making sense
Google has announced a definitive agreement with video compression technology company On2 to acquire it for approximately $106.5 million in stock.
The $0.60 per share proposal has yet to be approved by On2 stockholders or regulatory authorities, but if it is, Google expects the deal to be closed before the end of this year.
"Today video is an essential part of the web experience, and we believe high-quality video compression technology should be a part of the web platform," said Sundar Pichai, VP of product management at Google. "We are committed to innovation in video quality on the web, and we believe that On2's team and technology will help us further that goal."
On the surface the acquisition makes good sense for Google. It owns the biggest video website in YouTube and is trying to compete in the web platform market with its Android and Chrome operating systems. Rivals Microsoft, Apple and Adobe have their own web video technologies in Silverlight, Quicktime and Flash, respectively.
Current On2 customers include Adobe, Skype, Nokia and Sony.
