Antitrust body investigates Google-Waze merger

JERUSALEM — Israel’s antitrust regulatory commission is investigating whether the Google-Waze merger constitutes a monopoly.

The Israel Antitrust Authority opened its investigation on Wednesday, the Israeli business daily Globes reported.

The probe will focus on whether Google’s purchase of Waze, a free downloadable navigation application with more than 50 million subscribers, should have obtained permission from the authority before the merger and whether it could create a monopoly in the Israeli market.

Waze on July 25 reported a purchase price of $966 million in cash in its financial report for the second quarter of 2013, Globes reported. The purchase was completed in mid-May.

The Israeli firm’s managers and employees have remained in their Raanana headquarters rather than relocating to Menlo Park, Calif. Google has said that Waze will remain a separate service and an independent company.

The antitrust authority has asked Google Israel’s general manager and Waze Israel’s CEO for financial and other information, according to Globes.

Also investigating the merger are the Federal Trade Commission in the United States and Britain’s Office of Fair Trading.