Big tech is in acquisition mode, despite antitrust scrutiny. It’s just that the deals aren’t for brand name companies or of any size. This week alone we’ve seen Google acquire data management firm Actifio, Facebook buy customer support service Kustomer and Amazon reportedly in talks to snap up podcasting firm Wondery.
Each of those are tiny in comparison with Salesforce’s $27.7 billion deal this week to buy Slack, an acquisition that would likely not pass muster if done by one of the tech giants. Actifio, for instance, was last valued at $1.3 billion, suggesting it likely cost a couple billion dollars, while the Kustomer deal was reportedly worth just $1 billion. As for Wondery, a Wall Street Journal report indicated Amazon would likely pay $300 million or so.
