- Google on Tuesday signed a "definitive agreement" to acquire New York-based cloud security startup Wiz for $32 billion in an all-cash deal.
- In July, CNBC reported that Wiz walked away from a potential $23 billion acquisition by Google and announced to employees that it would pursue an initial public offering instead.
- The deal will be Google's largest-ever acquisition and top its $12.5 billion purchase of hardware marker Motorola in 2012.
The Wiz website on a smartphone arranged in New York, US, on Tuesday, July 16, 2024.
Google on Tuesday signed a "definitive agreement" to acquire Wiz, the New York-based cloud security startup, for $32 billion in an all-cash deal, according to releases.
The deal, which will be Google's largest-ever acquisition, will improve its cloud security offering in a world of advancing artificial intelligence and cybersecurity threats. Wiz will become a part of the company's cloud business. Google said it expects to close the deal in 2026.
"Google Cloud is a leader in cloud infrastructure, with deep AI expertise and a track record of industry-leading security innovation," Google said in a release. "Bringing all this to Wiz will help make their solutions even better and more scalable, benefiting customers and partners across all major clouds."
The acquisition comes after CNBC reported in July that Wiz had walked away from a potential $23 billion acquisition by Google and announced to employees that it would pursue an initial public offering instead.
"Saying no to such humbling offers is tough," Wiz co-founder Assaf Rappaport wrote to employees in a July memo obtained by CNBC. At the time, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC that Wiz walked away from the deal in part due to antitrust and investor concerns.
Before talks with Google were reported, Wiz had set its sights on two goals: an IPO and $1 billion in annual recurring revenue. In the memo at the time, Rappaport wrote that the company would pursue those milestones.
Wiz was founded in 2020 and has grown rapidly under Rappaport, with the company hitting $100 million in annual recurring revenue after just 18 months. The company's cloud security products include prevention, active detection and response, a portfolio that's appealed to large firms and would have helped Google compete with Microsoft, which also sells security software.
"Becoming part of Google Cloud is effectively strapping a rocket to our backs: it will accelerate our rate of innovation faster than what we could achieve as a standalone company," Rappaport said in a blog post Tuesday.
Google has a long history in dealmaking and snatching up smaller companies to broaden its offerings to customers. Its largest deal before Wiz was the $12.5 billion acquisition of hardware marker Motorola in 2012. Two years later, the company sold some assets to Lenovo for $2.9 billion. Google has also made cybersecurity acquisitions in the past, paying $5.4 billion for Mandiant in 2022.
Wiz's products will still work on competitor platforms including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud, the companies said. The Wall Street Journal first reported Monday that the companies were in advanced discussions.
While the agreement may still draw government scrutiny, many on Wall Street have been hopeful that President Donald Trump's new White House administration will be more amenable to tech industry deals. Alphabet is currently battling an antitrust suit over its online search dominance.
— CNBC's Jennifer Elias, Jordan Novet and Rohan Goswami contributed to this report.
