Google parent Alphabet in talks to buy cyber security group Wiz for $30bn

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Google parent Alphabet is in talks to buy cyber security start-up Wiz for about $30bn, setting the stage for the biggest acquisition in the search giant’s history, according to people familiar with the matter.

Alphabet held talks over a $23bn acquisition of Wiz last year, although the negotiations collapsed after some of the cyber security company’s directors and investors became worried about antitrust hurdles. Alphabet had now returned with a bid of more than $30bn, a person said.

The new round of deal talks were ongoing and an agreement could be clinched soon, two people said. A takeover of Wiz would rank among the biggest deals of the year and would still likely face scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission under President Donald Trump, whose new chair Andrew Ferguson has maintained guidelines giving the agency the ability to block large deals used by his predecessor Lina Khan.

Alphabet did not respond to requests for comment on the talks. Wiz declined to comment.

Founded by alumni of Israel’s elite cyber intelligence unit in 2020 and now based in the US, Wiz provides cyber security services for the cloud. The company is among the fastest-growing software start-ups of all time, benefiting from a surge in sales as businesses increasingly shift their operations to the cloud.

It hit $500mn in annualised recurring revenue — an earnings metric commonly used by start-ups — last year, and aimed to double that in 2025, according to co-founder Roy Reznik. The group provides cloud security services to nearly half of America’s top 100 largest companies, according to its website.

The possible tie-up, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, comes amid a sluggish environment for dealmaking as trade policy uncertainty under Trump’s new administration and market turmoil has cooled hopes of a mergers and acquisition boom.

Dealmakers had feared that large tech takeovers may be particularly challenging under the current administration, as vice-president JD Vance has said that he believes Big Tech has “too much power”.

Privately held Wiz last raised $1bn at a $12bn valuation in 2022 from a group of investors led by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Thrive Capital. The company is also backed by investors including Index Ventures, Insight Partners, G Squared, Sequoia Capital, Greenoaks, Cyberstarts and Wellington.

Wiz had said after the talks with Alphabet fizzled last summer that it would pursue an initial public offering.

A takeover of Wiz would be far larger than any of Alphabet’s previous deals. The company’s biggest deal to date was its $12.5bn acquisition of gadget maker Motorola Mobility, which it has since sold. In 2022, Alphabet paid $5.4bn to acquire cyber security company Mandiant to enhance its Google Cloud product.

Alphabet has been searching for ways to boost its earnings from cloud computing services to offset its dependence on search-linked advertising revenue. Google Cloud remains a distant third in global market share at about 12 per cent, behind Microsoft’s Azure with 21 per cent and leader Amazon Web Services with almost a third.