Google just announced it is buying Apigee, a specialist in application programming interfaces (APIs), for approximately $625 million in cash.
Apigee makes software to manage APIs, which are basically the communication conduits by which different applications communicate with each other.
The availability of published APIs means that a software developer can cobble together different mini-services already available—such as Google Maps meshed with Twilio (to add SMS messaging) along with other capabilities—to make something new and different. APIs, in short, let developers use other apps as building blocks for their own applications.
Apigee went public in April 2015, and its shareholders will receive $17.40 per share in cash. The transaction is expected to close by year’s end.
Fortune (8 Sept)
