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http://www.watblog.com/2014/01/16/google-appears-interested-in-square-may-cough-up-5-billion/


Google Appears Interested in Square, May Cough Up $ 5 Billion
by Alap Naik Desai | posted: January 16, 2014 0 comment

It seems Google has expressed interest in acquiring mobile based payment processing company Square.

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If a recent tweet by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder one97 and PayTM is to be believed, search giant Google has stepped up its efforts to buy Square,

“Right now Google M&A team is either in negotiation or preparing their counter offer for Square.”

Google Changes Gears on Inorganic Expansion: By now it is clear that the change in upper management has had a direct impact on the way Google treats inorganic expansion. Over the past months the company has acquired several other start-ups as well as established companies to consolidate and strengthen its position. Quite recently, the company acquired trio of companies in quick succession. One was Bitspin, the other was Nest and the latest acquisition seems to be Impermium, a website security start-up.

Why is Google interested in Square?
Google presently has its own payment mechanism, christened Google Wallet and it has been making steady progress. But Square on the other hand, has been growing by leaps and bounds. The company presently offers two iterations of virtual and mobile based payments; Square Register and Square Wallet.

Square Register allows individuals and merchants in the United States, Canada, and Japan to accept debit and credit cards on their iOS or Android smartphone or tablet computer using a simple Swiper. While Square Wallet allows customers to set up a tab (account) and pay for their order merely with their name (or a barcode) using a stored credit, debit, or gift card.

Interestingly Square had recently bought Evenly, a Bill splitting app and has been buying other companies too. Currently Square is valued at US$ 5 Billion and the company made a tender offer to sell 1 Million shares at US$ 135.28 each, in a private deal. Having just bought Nest for US$ 3.2 Billion, will Google cough-up another 5 Billion?