Google In Fresh Bid To Acquire Cybersecurity Firm Wiz For A$47 Billion

Cybersecurity startup Wiz turned down Google’s A$36 billion acquisition offer last year. Now, Google is making a renewed push with A$47 billion on the table this time around.

Google parent Alphabet is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire the startup which offers cybersecurity software for cloud computing and is based in New York.

Among Wiz’s services, it scans data on cloud storage providers such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services for security risks.

If the deal is successful, it would be Google’s largest-ever acquisition – much bigger than it’s A$19.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility in 2012 – and worth many times more than the A$501 million that Microsoft paid for cloud cybersecurity company Adallom which was co-founded by the four former Israeli military officers who founded Wiz.

Wiz was established in 2020 by Chief Executive Assaf Rappaport and his colleagues, with the company believed to be one of the fastest-growing startups of all time. It was valued at A$25 billion in an employee tender offer late last year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Wiz’s annual recurring revenue stood at A$782.89 million last July, with plans to hit A$1.57 billion this year.

The firm is backed by top-tier Valley venture capitalists including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures and Greenoaks.

Rappaport told employees last year around the time that Google’s first attempt to acquire it fell through that the company was aiming for an IPO, but those plans now seem to be on hold as Google is still trying to acquire the startup.

For a potential deal this size, Google’s acquisition is all but certain to come under scrutiny by antitrust regulators.

Google has already been facing the possibility of a forced breakup after a US federal judge ruled last year that it had illegally monopolised the search market.

Recently the US Justice Department said that the company can maintain its existing investments in AI startups such as Anthropic, but would still need to sell its Chrome web browser.