Fitness wristband maker Fitbit is said to be close to a deal to acquire smartwatch maker Pebble, in order to access its intellectual property.

Fitbit is aiming to acquire Pebble's assets particularly the PebbleOS, which has a large number of apps running on it and can be paired with both Apple?s iOS and Android, The Financial Times said Wednesday, citing several people close to the negotiations.

Both Pebble and Fitbit have not provided any comment yet.

Pebble was due to ship Core early next year. The device can stream music, track workouts using GPS and integrates with Amazon?s Alexa virtual assistant. Fitbit is unlikely to continue to manufacture the Pebble watches for very long after the acquisition, according to The Financial Times.