In what is one of the company’s biggest acquisitions ever, Amazon has come to an agreement with Ring to buy the Santa Monica, California based company for a reported $1 Billion. The terms of the deal were not disclosed but all indications are that Ring, much like other acquisitions Amazon has made, will at its core remain as a separate brand until the corporate umbrella.
Ring is best known for their connected cameras, doorbells and other home automation & security solutions. The acquisition, from Amazon’s perspective, fits well into their overall home automation strategy as well as integration with their assistant, Alexa.
Ring had a valuation of $1 billion so the price tag for the 1300 employee company is not out of line. What ultimately this means for the Ring leadership such as CEO James Siminoff is unclear and will likely take several months to sort out. Given that Ring is a private company, exact details on the financials of the deal as well as how the management structure will work likely will not be publicly disclosed.
Ring is just the latest acquisition that Amazon has made. In December they acquired Blink, who makes wireless smart cams and video doorbells. How this will fit with Ring and the overall strategy is not clear.
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