Fitbit to buy Pebble smartwatch company for $40M - Breitbart

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec. 1 (UPI) — Fitbit, the troubled leader in wearable fitness technology, has bought smartwatch company Pebble Technology for up to $40 million.

The Information reported that Pebble has faced financial challenges over the past year since the company, based in Redwood City, Calif., raised more than $20 million in a KickStarter campaign, one of the most successful crowd-funding campaigns in history.

In March, Pebble laid off about 25 percent of its workforce. On Wednesday, Fitbit closed stock trading at $8.36 — about 60 percent below its Initial Public Offering price from June of 2015.

Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky had hoped to negotiate a purchase price of $200 million. The agreed-upon purchase price barely allows Pebble to cover its debt, TechCrunch reported.

Fitbit plans to phase out Pebble’s devices by focusing on the company’s technologies and intellectual properties.