BOULDER — Google sold SketchUp — the locally developed 3-D modeling software that was the impetus for the Internet giant operating a campus in Boulder — to location and positioning firm Trimble Navigation Ltd., the companies announced Thursday.
Under the terms of the acquisition, Trimble also will run the SketchUp 3D Warehouse, an online repository of 3-D models, in partnership with Google.
Officials from Google and Trimble declined interview requests Thursday.
In Google’s official SketchUp Blog, SketchUp project manager John Bacus wrote that the Trimble acquisition will allow SketchUp to grow.
“That’s why I’m sharing today that the SketchUp team and technology will be leaving Google to join Trimble,” he wrote. “We’ll be better able to focus on our core communities: modelers who have been with us from the beginning, as well as future SketchUppers who have yet to discover our products.
“Designers, builders and makers of things have always been the heart and soul of SketchUp. With Trimble’s commitment to invest in our growth, we’ll be able to innovate and develop new features better than ever before.”
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Trimble has an office in the Westmoor Technology Park in Westminster.
Officials said users would still have the ability to integrate 3-D buildings into Google Earth and that the free version of SketchUp would remain.
The acquisition is projected to close in the second quarter.
SketchUp was developed by Boulder-based @LastSoftware, which Google acquired in 2006.
Since that time, Google expanded its local operations by adding more people, buildings and products. The local operations also are responsible for products such as Google Apps, Chrome and Google Docs.
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