The deal estimated Ring at more than $1 billion, an expert close to the matter told News. Amazon refused to discuss the times.
Ring is set to be one of Amazon’s most costly takeovers, after its $13.7 billion deal last year for Whole Foods Market.
The world’s largest online retailer thinks that selling Internet-connected devices from Kindle e-readers to its new Cloud Cam will spark more buying on Amazon.com. Ring offers the business a popular consumer electronics brand that it might not have replicated internally.
More importantly, Ring’s security devices could work well with Amazon Key, a quick lock and camera system that lets dispatch personnel put packages inside a home to avoid theft or, in the case of fresh food, spoiling.
“As Amazon moves more aggressively into the supermarket delivery space… we believe smart security devices will be a major factor in driving user adoption,” Baird Equity Research analyst Colin Sebastian said in a note.
Amazon’s Alexa Fund, which offers investment capital to companies working on voice technology, invested in the Santa Monica, California-based Ring.
Currently, Ring devices can combine with Amazon’s voice-controlled assistant Alexa. Users of Amazon’s Echo Show device can say, “Alexa, show my front door” to receive a live feed of activity around their home via Ring cameras.
The deal creates the potential for much more, analysts said.
“Amazon more than Ring can transform home security,” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said.
U.S. security and alarm company ADT could be the significant loser, he added. Ring’s “camera technology is far better to physical security … With Amazon having roughly 100 million Prime members, that’s a big addressable market for them to start selling this into.”
Shares of ADT Inc fell more than 2 percent after the news to close at $11.60. Amazon stock settled down 0.7 percent.
Amazon was working on a competing smart lock with the camera prior to the deal, according to a separate person familiar with the matter. Its decision to buy Ring underlines the task startups have to try to win in the home security space.
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