Google gets the green light from UK for buyout of Looker Data Sciences

The UK competition watchdog today gave the go-ahead for Google’s £2 billion buyout of cloud data firm Looker Data Sciences.

In December, the Competition and Markets Authority waded into the deal between the two Californian companies as the body was worried the merger could “substantially” reduce competition in the UK’s cloud computing market.

Google holds the dominant position in the UK cloud data market, while Looker has a number of UK customers, including the Economist.

But today the CMA said its probe found the deal would not adversely affect quality of service or competition in the market for data analytics tools and software.

The deal, which was revealed in June, was the first by the company’s new cloud chief, Thomas Kurian, who replaced Diane Greene last year.

The purpose of the merger is to help Google build upon its BigQuery tool, which is used for managing large datasets.

It is Google’s biggest acquisition for many years, alongside its planned $2.1 billion purchase of Fitbit. The Fitbit deal is facing regulatory challenges in Europe and the US.