Alphabet, Google's parent company, has reached a "definitive agreement" on Tuesday to acquire the US cybersecurity company Wiz for the price of 32 billion dollars (around 29.306 billion euros).
This is the largest acquisition made by the tech giant so far, strengthening its presence in the cybersecurity field, currently seen as a growing market. To date, Alphabet's biggest purchase had been Motorola Mobility for 12.5 billion dollars (11.466 billion euros). In 2022, Alphabet paid 5.4 billion dollars (4.953 billion euros) for the cybersecurity company Mandiant.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Alphabet had renewed its interest in acquiring the cybersecurity startup, after discussions for a purchase at around 23 billion dollars (21.098 billion euros) last year fell through due to antitrust concerns. And a few hours ago, the Financial Times already hinted that a new round of negotiations for a deal was underway and could be finalized soon.
The acquisition of Wiz is one of the biggest operations of the year and is likely to be subject to scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), whose new chairman, Andrew Ferguson, has maintained the guidelines that give the agency the power to block large deals, as used by his predecessor, Lina Khan.
Wiz was last valued at 12 billion dollars (over 11 billion euros) and is backed by venture capital firms like Sequoia Capital and Thrive Capital.