Alphabet ’s Google is buying a $450 million (Dh1.6 billion) stake in home security firm ADT, forming a partnership that could get the tech giant’s smart-home products in front of millions of new customers.
The deal gives Google a 6.6 per cent stake in the Boca Raton, Florida-based ADT, the largest home security company in the US with about 20,000 employees and more than 6 million customers. Google’s prowess in hardware design and software will give ADT access to technology it wouldn’t be able to build on its own. ADT will begin distributing Google’s Nest home products exclusively. Shares of ADT skyrocketed as much as 100 per cent before pulling back somewhat. They were up 57 per cent to $14.40 at 11.17 am in New York on Monday. Google shares were little changed.
Distribution is key for Google because it doesn’t have a network of retail stores like Apple and doesn’t own its own marketplace like Amazon.com. The three tech giants are locked in a battle for prime placement in people’s homes, designing appliances centered around their unique voice assistants. Google has many distribution deals with home builders and utility companies, but the ADT agreement is notable for its size and the fact that Google is taking an equity stake.
Until now, ADT hasn’t favoured one company’s products over another. This deal changes that.
“The partnership with Google is us no longer pursuing a path of product agnosticism and aligning with someone we think is the best in the business,” said ADT chief executive Jim DeVries. ADT will still integrate with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant if customers ask for it, but in hardware categories where Google has an offering, it will be the exclusive partner, Mr DeVries said in a phone interview.
The smart home market is experiencing “explosive gains” Mr DeVries said, and is projected to grow 20 per cent annually. “Together the smart home and security market represents a tremendous opportunity for ADT and Google,” Mr DeVries said on a conference call with analysts.
Both companies will commit an additional $150m, subject to the achievement of certain milestones, for marketing, product development, technology and employee training, they said. The deal would make Google ADT’s second-largest shareholder, behind Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm that took over ADT in 2016 and helped organise an initial public offering.
Google entered the smart-home market when it bought Nest in 2014 for $3.2 billion. The unit has become one of the largest makers of internet-connected thermostats, smoke alarms and locks. In the security space, it has about 40 per cent of the market compared to Amazon’s 35 per cent, according to a 2019 research report by Rakuten Intelligence.
Amazon’s home security system Ring has been criticised by privacy and civil rights activists for working too closely with police, including inking deals where police forces give out Ring cameras to residents for free in exchange for being able to connect them into their own surveillance networks.
Mr DeVries said ADT doesn’t give cameras to police and doesn’t have hardware deals with law enforcement. On the monitoring side, ADT does work closely with police forces, who often respond when a security alert is triggered.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
The five pillars of Islam
More from Aya Iskandarani
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
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Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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INFO
What: DP World Tour Championship
When: November 21-24
Where: Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
DUBAI WORLD CUP RACE CARD
6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.05pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
8.15pm Dubai Sprint Listed Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group Two $450,000 (D) 1,900m
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,800m
10pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
The National selections
6.30pm Well Of Wisdom
7.05pm Summrghand
7.40pm Laser Show
8.15pm Angel Alexander
8.50pm Benbatl
9.25pm Art Du Val
10pm: Beyond Reason
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Company%20profile
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
