Report claims Google halted Twitch.tv acquistion talks due to antitrust concerns

Twitch website hero
Twitch website hero (Image credit: Android Central)

A new report claims Google decided to end acquisition talks with the game video streaming service Twitch.tv due to concerns that the deal could generate antitrust investigations from government regulators.

On Monday, Amazon and Twitch.tv jointly confirmed that the online retailer will acquire Twitch for $970 million in cash, with the deal expected to close sometime before the end of 2014. However, rumors began in May that Google's YouTube subsidiary was in deep negotiations to acquire Twitch.tv for a price tag of over $1 billion.

Forbes, using unnamed sources, claims that Google was unable to finalize a deal to buy Twitch because of the fear that antitrust regulators might focus on the fact that the company already owns YouTube, which offers its own game video streaming features. The story claims that because of these concerns, Google and Twitch were unable to come to an agreement on a breakup fee if the deal was announced and then later cancelled.

If this story is accurate, do you think Google made the right decision in not buying Twitch?

Source: Forbes

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John Callaham