2024-07-15 18:45:02
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is closing in on a $23 billion acquisition of cybersecurity firm Wiz – its largest purchase ever, according to published reports.
The mega-deal, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, is in advanced talks and could be announced soon, according to people familiar with the matter.
The four-year-old Wiz, which has raised $1.9 billion from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures and others, had been eyeing an IPO in May under chief executive Assaf Rappaport. At the time, Wiz’s market valuation had soared to $12 billion.
Wiz’s cloud-security product has drawn attention for detecting security flaws from other companies, including one in Microsoft’s search engine Bing in May 2023 that would have allowed hackers to alter search results as well as filch personal information.
Wiz and Google could not be reached for comment.
Google’s interest in Wiz comes amid a slew of digital intrusions by nation-states and cybercriminals that have compromised government agencies and major organizations (OpenAI, AT&T Inc.) that have alarmed cybersecurity experts. In 2022, Google snapped up cybersecurity firm Mandiant for $5.4 billion.
“Google’s security strategy further unfolds as they look to acquire Wiz,” said Mitch Ashley, chief technology advisor with The Futurum Group and chief technology officer at Techstrong Group. “In a single, high price-tag acquisition, Wiz will propel Google to the center of many enterprise cloud security strategies by covering container, software supply chain security, cloud workload, CI/CD pipeline, code and data security and much more.
Cloud Security Solutions
“Complementing Mandiant’s deep threat and security monitory capabilities, Wiz is a natural to complete a compliment of enterprise cloud security solutions delivered by Google,” Ashley said.
Google’s pursuit of Wiz is equally significant for its timing. The company is one of a handful of Big Tech companies aggressively targeted by Justice Department officials on antitrust grounds, including merger-and-acquisition activity.
Until last week, Google was reportedly interested in purchasing sales software maker HubSpot, but talks cooled shortly before Google turned its attention to Wiz.
Indeed, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives foresees an acceleration in Big Tech M&A if Donald Trump wins back the White House, portending an appreciably weaker Federal Trade Commission and a flood of mega-deals starting in 2025.
