Google Sells Satellite Unit to Planet Labs
February 03 2017 - 4:50PM
Dow Jones News
By Jack Nicas
Alphabet Inc.'s Google is selling its satellite business to
competitor Planet Labs Inc. for shares in the startup, in a move to
simplify Google's sprawling operations.
Under the deal, Planet will acquire Google's satellite-imagery
Terra Bella unit and its seven satellites in orbit, the companies
said. In exchange, Google gets a stake in Planet and agrees to
purchase satellite images from the company for five years. The
companies declined to disclose further details of the deal, which
requires regulatory approval.
Google is selling Terra Bella largely because it believes it can
save money and simplify its business if it buys satellite imagery
from a third party versus launching and operating a network of
satellites itself, a person familiar with the deal said. The sale
confirms negotiations that took place between the companies last
month.
Google purchased Terra Bella for $500 million in 2014, when it
was known as Skybox Imaging. The sale is Alphabet's latest move to
shed some of its bolder bets, including the shuttering of an
internet-beaming-drone project and its effort to sell robot-maker
Boston Dynamics.
Planet Chief Executive Will Marshall said Terra Bella's
satellites capture imagery six times as detailed as the images from
Planet's network of 60 satellites. Earlier on Friday, the San
Francisco-based company said it plans to launch another 88
satellites later this month, enabling it to photograph all 57.3
million square miles of the Earth's land mass each day, up from
roughly 19 million square miles today.
"By scanning the whole world in medium resolution, we can spot
changes. And then we can point [Terra Bella's] high-resolution
satellites on those changes," Mr. Marshall said. "So it's very
complementary."
Planet plans this year to launch six more Terra Bella
satellites, which are about 260 lbs. each. Planet's existing
satellites weigh about 10 lbs. each.
Write to Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 03, 2017 16:35 ET (21:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024