Google Takes Stake in Messaging Startup Symphony
October 05 2015 - 3:40PM
Dow Jones News
Google Inc. has invested in a new round of funding for Symphony
Communication Services LLC that values the Wall Street-backed
messaging company at about $650 million, people familiar with the
matter said.
Google's support adds a technology-industry stalwart to the list
of banks and investment firms—such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,
Morgan Stanley and BlackRock Inc.—that have backed Symphony and its
fledgling communications software. Symphony's latest funding round
is expected to close this week, the people said.
Representatives for Google and Symphony declined to comment.
Symphony was created as an alternative to Bloomberg LP's
terminals, which have long been a hallmark of trading floors but
are viewed as a major cost center for financial firms.
The startup platform initially made its encryption technology a
selling point, but attracted regulatory attention from the New York
State Department of Financial Services, which was concerned about
record-keeping. The agency, New York's top banking watchdog,
reached a deal last month with the four banks it regulates that
invested in Symphony over how to keep their records.
The agency said at the time that the agreement with Goldman,
Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse Group AG and Bank of New York
Mellon Corp. was "to help ensure the banks' responsible use" of
Symphony. The deal requires the platform to keep copies of all
electronic communications sent to or from the four banks through
Symphony for seven years.
The Wall Street Journal reported in July that Symphony was
seeking investments that could value the startup at up to $1
billion. It is unclear how the regulatory attention affected
Symphony's bid to raise new money, or the subsequent valuation.
An initial 14 firms invested $66 million in Symphony, which
bought Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup Perzo Inc. last year.
Goldman led the consortium and contributed its in-house messaging
system.
Symphony has said it would offer news and research on the
platform in addition to its primary chat function. It agreed last
month to provide news content from Dow Jones Newswires and the
Journal on the platform. Dow Jones is a unit of News Corp.
Write to Sarah Krouse at sarah.krouse@wsj.com and Justin Baer at
justin.baer@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 05, 2015 15:25 ET (19:25 GMT)
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