Tech News

The Google-Postini deal gets anti-trust approval

By Steve Ragan Aug 8, 2007, 16:03 GMT

This week federal anti-trust regulators gave Google the green light to complete their all-cash $625 million acquisition of web security company Postini. On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued the early termination notice of the waiting period that is required by anti-trust improvements created in 1976. 

Postini's services, which include message security, archiving, encryption, and policy enforcement, can be used to protect a company's email, instant messaging, and other web-based communications. Under the terms of the agreement, Google said they would acquire Postini for $625 million in cash, subject to working capital and other adjustments, and Postini will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Google.

Google plans to use Postini to boost security for their hosted application suite Google Apps. Several companies have expressed concern over the potential risks of hosting corporate email on Google’s systems. The deal with Postini was made to alleviate those fears, and to boost the strength of the Google Apps platform. 

“With this transaction, we're reinforcing our commitment to delivering compelling hosted applications to businesses of all sizes. With the addition of Postini, our apps are not just simple and appealing to users -- they can also streamline the complex information security mandates within these organizations,” said Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google. 

Google will continue to support Postini customers and invest in Postini products. The deal is set to close officially later this quarter.