According to someone who is informed about the subject, Google is having serious talks in a bid to buy cybersecurity company Wiz for $23 billion. The deal is anticipated to wrap up shortly.
Since its founding in 2020, Wiz has expanded significantly under CEO Assaf Rappaport and had recently been considering going public. Particularly, with the company reaching a $12 billion valuation.
Large companies with substantial computer resources find Wiz’s cloud security product, which provides insight into a company’s whole cloud presence, to be intriguing.
A number of prestigious companies, such as Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, Insight Partners, and Israeli venture capital company Cyberstarts, support it.
Should the transaction go through, it would be Google’s biggest acquisition to date.
Additionally, it would emphasize a strong and ongoing wager on cybersecurity at a period when nation-states and criminal groups are able to cause disruptions to major enterprises and governments.
Google has a history of making significant cyber purchases. Two years ago, the corporation paid $5.4 billion to acquire the cybersecurity firm Mandiant.
However, the company is currently under unprecedented antitrust investigation. Google has been sued twice by the Justice Department for antitrust violations.
The most recent lawsuit, which was filed in 2023, focused on the company’s acquisition strategies.
Despite worries about competition, the company seems to have rekindled its interest in mergers and acquisitions based on its discussions with Wiz.
According to a prior story from CNBC, Google was in discussions to buy Hubspot, a company that makes sales software, but its interest had allegedly waned.
