Google Inc. has closed the acquisition deal with the home automation company Nest Labs for $3.2 billion.
A Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed that the billion dollar-worth buyout was finally completed on Feb. 7, the Mac Observer reported.
According to the software giant's 10-K filing, which disclosed more about its plans for the home automation company, it expects to enhance its collection of products and services while letting Nest continue with the innovation of home devices making them more handy and intuitive. Though the Internet giant's engineering expertise has resulted to major advances in technology, it is still struggling in producing hardware products that will connect well with the consumers.
Google also said in the filing that before the deal, it had an approximately 12 percent ownership interest in Nest Labs.
When the news about the buyout first came out last month, many of Nest's customers raised concerns about the privacy implications of the deal, especially because their merchandises are connected to the Internet and can gather details of a user's daily routine.
Tony Fadell, the "godfather" of iPod and the CEO of Nest Labs, was quick to defend the deal saying that his company thoroughly discussed privacy issues and concerns with Google during their meetings. He also assured customers that his company's terms of service would remain the same even after the deal.
"It took us months to get comfortable that they are going to bring to the table the things we need for scale and to realize our decade-long vision and that they really truly respected what we did," he told Reuters.
"The reality of the situation is inside of Google they take privacy so incredibly seriously you have no idea."
Nest Labs, which was co-founded by engineers Fadell and Mark Rogers, is a startup company popular for its sensor-driven, Wi-Fi enabled, self-learning, programmable thermostats and smoke detectors.
