Google grabs Postini for $625 million

SEARCH GIANT Google has today announced the signing of a certain agreement to take over on-demand security provider Postini, a company which serves over 35,000 business world-over.

Google's grabbing Postini for $625 million in cash - give or take working capital and "other adjustments" - to become a wholly-owned Google subsidiary. The company provides services such as message security, policy enforcement, encryption and archiving and is well versed in scanning online content like company email and instant messaging.

Presumably the acquisition is to help run Google's Google Apps services more smoothly - which, in case you've been living under some kind of internet-free rock, include the highly popular Gmail and Google Talk.

There's "rapid innovation" to be expect, claims Quentin Gallivan, head honcho at Postini. "Combining Google and Postini is a powerful next step in this creative journey."

Google's promising to support current Postini customers and to invest in Postini products. µ