Alphabet Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the Stanford 2024 Business, Government & Society Forum on April 3, 2024 in Stanford, California.
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Google The company is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity company Wiz for $23 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
People familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that a deal could be completed soon.
Founded in 2020, Wiz has grown rapidly under the leadership of CEO Assaf Rappaport. The company had been considering an IPO as recently as May, which valued the company at $12 billion.
A representative for Wiz declined to comment.
Wiz’s cloud security products give executives and cybersecurity professionals deep visibility into a company’s complete cloud operations, which is attractive to large companies with significant computing resources. It is backed by a range of blue-chip companies, including Israeli venture capital firm Cyberstarts, Index Ventures, Insight Partners and Sequoia Capital.
If completed, the deal would be Google’s largest acquisition ever. It will also highlight a clear and ongoing bet on cybersecurity at a time when nation-states and criminals are successfully disrupting governments and large organizations. Google has made big online acquisitions before: It bought cybersecurity company Mandiant for $5.4 billion two years ago.
But the company now faces unprecedented antitrust scrutiny. The Department of Justice has twice sued Google on antitrust grounds. The company’s acquisitions were highlighted in the latest lawsuit, filed in 2023.
But the company’s reported talks with Wiz indicate a renewed interest in M&A despite competition concerns. Google has been in talks to acquire sales software maker Hubspot, but its acquisition has reportedly cooled down, CNBC previously reported.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
