The Information has reported that smartwatch and fitness tracking specialist Fitbit is in the midst of a $40 million takeover of smartwatch maker Pebble. If the deal goes through, then Fitbit is said to receive all of Pebble's intellectual property and wearable expertise, which will go some way to expanding Fitbit's range of products.

It's claimed Pebble has been in financial difficulty lately, amassing high debt following poor sales, and the majority of Fitbit's $40 million bid will be used to clear it.

The first Pebble smartwatch launched on Kickstarter in 2012 where it raised nearly $10 million, the most money raised for any Kickstarter project at the time. Since then the company has released new versions of the smartwatch which again have raised an impressive amount of money on Kickstarter, but increasing competition from the likes of Apple and Samsung has led to poor sales since.

The company was forced to lay off a quarter of its workforce in March and reached out to investors and debt funding companies to help it stay afloat. It's now apparent that regardless of this help, Pebble isn't able to run as a successful business.

What may be some crushing news for Pebble though, is that it's had two previous takeover bids, one from Citizen in 2015 for $740 million and one for $70 million from Intel earlier this year.

Neither company has commented on the takeover just yet and we don't know when things will be finalised. We'll be sure to update this story as and when we know more.