A sale of Zagat would mark a course reversal for Google’s once ambitious plans for the brand, spearheaded by former executive Marissa Mayer.
Google has held informal talks with multiple companies about a
sale of the Zagat business, according to sources.
A deal would likely include the Zagat brand and website.
Google acquired Zagat in 2011 for $151 million.
Alphabet’s Google is exploring a potential sale of Zagat, the
U. S. restaurant
review guide which the search giant bought for $151 million in
2011, people familiar with the matter said.
A sale of Zagat would mark a course reversal for Alphabet’s once
ambitious plans for the brand, spearheaded by former Google
executive Marissa Mayer, who went on to become Yahoo Inc’s chief
executive. Zagat gradually became less of a priority as Google
focused on drawing traffic to its Google+ social network.
Google has held informal talks in recent months with multiple
companies about offloading Zagat, the sources said, asking not to
be named because the matter is private. Any deal would likely
involve the Zagat brand name and website, the sources added.
Google’s asking price is not known, and there is no certainty it
will agree to sell Zagat, the sources said.
A spokeswoman for Google declined to comment.
Google Maps incorporates Zagat reviews into its restaurant
listings, and a small team at the company maintains Zagat.com,
which features articles about restaurants in major cities.
The unit makes up just a fraction of Alphabet, a sprawling
holding company whose units include Google and an array of
unrelated pursuits in areas such as healthcare, self-driving cars
and urban planning.
Founded in 1979 by Tim and Nina Zagat, the eponymous service
became known for its familiar burgundy pocket-sized guides to
restaurants in cities around the world. Many establishments
feature Zagat stickers on their doors and windows.
Over the past year, Alphabet has been pruning its portfolio and
shedding smaller non-core assets.
Last June, Alphabet agreed to sell two robotics firms, Boston
Dynamics and Tokyo-based Schaft to SoftBank Group Corp. Last
February, it announced it would sell the satellite imaging
business it acquired in 2014 for $500 million called Terra Bella,
to Planet Labs, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator.
Alphabet also explored selling Nest, a maker of Wi-Fi enabled
thermostats, in 2016, Reuters reported.
Get the latest Google stock price here.
