The acquisition of the cloud specialist will be the largest in Alphabet’s history.
Google parent Alphabet is in talks to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz for about $23 billion, which would be the biggest acquisition in the technology group’s history, people familiar with the matter said.
Alphabet’s talks to acquire Wiz are not yet complete, according to one of the people with direct knowledge of the matter, and people with knowledge of the deal say there is still a chance the deal will fall through as a number of details remain to be negotiated.
If the deal goes through, it will be a test for antitrust regulators, who have in recent years actively cracked down on technology groups buying up emerging companies in the sector. Alphabet’s last major deal took place more than a decade ago when it acquired Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.
The acquisition of Wiz would be another major cybersecurity deal for Alphabet, two years after buying Mandiant for $5.4 billion.
New York-based Wiz has raised about $2 billion from investors since its founding four years ago, according to PitchBook. The startup, led by Israeli founder and former Microsoft executive Assaf Rappaport, was most recently valued at $12 billion. Its backers include venture capital firms Sequoia and Thrive.
Wiz, whose clients include multinational companies such as Salesforce, Mars and BMW, helps companies secure software in the cloud. This has driven revenue growth as corporations increasingly use their software and store data online. Wiz said it achieved about $350 million in annual recurring revenue, a metric often used by software startups.
The deal would be one of the venture capital-backed company’s largest acquisitions yet.
Wiz declined to comment on the talks, which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Google has not yet responded to a request for comment.
