Google has agreed to buy WIZ, a fast-growing cyber security start-up, for $ 32 billion in the company's biggest pressure to strengthen its cloud computer activities and to go beyond the search engine and consumer internet services that made it a household name.
The All-Cash Deal, announced on Tuesday, would be the largest of Google and his $ 12.5 billion purchase from Motorola Mobility in 2012 is easy to exceed.
With the deal, Google would get a five -year -old company that most consumers are not familiar with, but where a growing number of companies trust to protect their cloud applications. The Silicon Valley Giant worked for months last year to forge a deal for WIZ, which was most recently appreciated at $ 12 billion. In July, WIZ rejected Google's takeover bid and said it wanted to follow a first public offer, but an IPO never came.
The spectacular purchase would inject a new momentum into Google Cloud, the division that sells computer services to other companies. It would also be the most aggressive effort of the tech giant to keep track of Microsoft, his old rival, in cyber security.
“Nowadays, companies and governments walking in the cloud are looking for even stronger security solutions and a larger choice in cloud computing providers,” said Sundar Pichai, Chief Executive of Google, in a statement. “Together, Google Cloud and Wiz will improve the cloud protection and the possibility of using multiple clouds.”
But first Alphabet, Google's parent company, should delete legal obstacles.
The deal will test the ability of the company to carry out large acquisitions during long -term antitrust fights with the US government. The Ministry of Justice has sued Google in two separate monopolistic issues, one that focuses on its ubiquitous search engine and another who wants to break its digital advertising technology company. A federal court ruled that the company had illegally maintained a monopoly in online search and will decide on remedies to restore the competition by August.
Under President Trump, his supervisors remain against business consolidation. In January, the Ministry of Justice sued to block the acquisition of a rival, Juniper Networks by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, with the argument that the deal would eliminate the competition and increase prices in the computer network industry.
For years, Alphabet has tried to diversify the search engine, YouTube video service and other online advertising companies that produce three-quarters of its income. Alphabet has created daring companies such as the self -driving car company Waymo and Verily, which is aimed at health care, but they must not have been paid off completely.
The company has also pumped sources in Google Cloud. Just like his competitors Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, the unit offers a variety of services to help companies store and analyze data, as well as applications.
The WIZ -acquisition is in line with a plan to make Google Cloud a larger player in cyber security. Under Thomas Kurian, the Chief Executive of the Unit, Google Cloud bought two cyber security companies in 2022, Mandiant for $ 5.4 billion and Siemplify for a reported $ 500 million. The strategy could help Google overtaking Microsoft, who said that it generates more than $ 20 billion in annual security income, making it the world's largest provider of cyber security software.
If completed, the deal can also help to breathe new life into the turnover extension of Google Cloud. As the company has grown, the pace is usually delayed, although sales in the fourth quarter increased a solid 30 percent compared to a year earlier, to $ 12 billion.
WIZ has grown at a worn pace. Last year it said that it had $ 350 million in recurring income, an increase of $ 100 million two years earlier. The company, which is located in New York, has said that it is planning to reach $ 1 billion in recurring income in 2025.
“This acquisition will strengthen our mission to improve security and prevent infringements by offering extra resources and deep AI expertise,” said Assaf Rappaport, the Chief Executive of WIZ, in a statement.
The investors of WIZ are Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, Greenoaks and Advent International.
Lauren Hirsch Contribute to reporting from New York.
