By Andrew Martin | Bloomberg
Google parent Alphabet Inc. agreed to acquire cybersecurity firm Wiz Inc. for $32 billion in cash, reaching a deal less than a year after initial negotiations fell apart because the cloud-computing startup wanted to stay independent.
Wiz will join the Google Cloud business once the deal closes, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday. The takeover is subject to regulatory approvals and is likely to close next year, they said.
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The deal, which would be Alphabet’s largest to date, comes after Wiz turned down a $23 billion bid from the internet search leader last year after several months of discussions. At the time, Wiz walked away after deciding it could ultimately be worth more by pursuing an initial public offering company. Concerns about regulatory challenges also influenced the decision.
Shares of Alphabet fell nearly 3% in New York on Tuesday.
The Wiz takeover is by far the largest M&A deal to be announced this year. Deal-hungry companies and their advisers had initially predicted that US President Donald Trump’s policies would create better conditions for buying and selling, supercharging an M&A market that just got back on its feet after a lull. Instead, his tariff threats and geopolitical tensions have spooked markets and kept dealmakers in wait-and-see mode.
Buying Wiz provides Google’s cloud-computing business with new security products to offer customers as it works to catch up with Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., its larger rivals in the fast-growing, competitive market. Wiz offers cloud-specific cybersecurity tools that work on all platforms, identifying and prioritizing threats across organizations’ often-complex cloud environments.
Google framed the Wiz acquisition as a way to beef up its cloud security offerings and provide customers with new ways to keep their systems secure in a new era of AI.
“AI brings new risks, but also new opportunities,” Alphabet Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said in a call with investors. “Organizations are looking for cybersecurity solutions that improve cloud security and span multiple clouds.”
Wiz’s products will continue to work on major cloud platforms, including competing services from Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle Corp., the companies said.
Founded in 2020, Wiz has grown quickly, helped by a roster of investors that includes Greenoaks, Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, Insight Partners and Cyberstarts. The company was valued at $12 billion in a funding round in May 2024.
Wiz Chief Executive Officer Assaf Rappaport described Alphabet’s earlier bid as “humbling,” but at the time said he relished the idea of growing Wiz into an independent cybersecurity giant, to compete against the likes of CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. and Palo Alto Networks.
The startup and its investors also balked at Google’s offer last year in part because of worries of a protracted regulatory approval process, with competition authorities in the US and Europe scrutinizing the technology industry for its economic sway and market power. While US President Donald Trump’s administration is likely to offer a more permissible deal environment, Alphabet’s offer for Wiz still may draw scrutiny from antitrust regulators.
Google has already been fending off several challenges on that front, including the Department of Justice accusing the company of abusing its dominant position in online search. In that case, a federal judge ruled last year that Google maintained an illegal monopoly in search. The company is facing another antitrust case over its digital advertising tools.
(Updates with shares in fourth paragraph and M&A context in fifth paragraph)
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