Alphabet Reportedly Courts Cloud Security Vendor Wiz Yet Again With $30B Offer: Retail Concerned Over Price Tag
New York-based Wiz, founded in January 2020, has more than 45% of the Fortune 100 companies as its customers.
Alphabet, Inc. (GOOGL) (GOOG) stock could be in the spotlight over rumors about the resumption of deal talks with cybersecurity startup Wiz.
A Wall Street Journal report said the Google parent is back at the negotiation table after discussions about a nearly $23 billion deal to acquire Wiz ended in a stalemate last summer amid antitrust concerns. This time, the search giant has made a $30 billion offer.
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If the discussions fructify, the proposed deal will mark Alphabet’s biggest-ever buy. Its previous most expensive buy was its $12.5 billion Motorola Mobility purchase,
The rumor comes as the financial markets are in disarray amid fears that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could tip the global economy into a recession. Visibility into the Trump administration’s stance on big deals is also limited.
Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson had signaled that he would follow the tough stance of his predecessor, Lina Khan. Alphabet is already on the regulators’ radar over its search dominance.
Wiz is a New York-based cloud security startup that was founded in January 2020. Its cloud security platform is used by more than 45% of the Fortune 100 companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, and Alphabet.
Data available on Wiz’ website shows that the company’s security offering protects 5 million cloud workloads and scans 230 billion files per day. Late last year, the company acquired security remediation and risk management company Dazz for $450 million.
A Guardian report said that in August last year, Wiz set up its first European headquarters in London.
The Journal said Wiz is backed by Silicon Valley venture capital firms, including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures and Greenoaks.
The Wiz deal could amp up Alphabet's competitive positioning in the cloud computing space.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward Alphabet stock remained ‘bearish’ (31/100) and the message volume continued to be ‘low.’ The muted retail reaction reflected mostly macro concerns.
A bearish watcher said the stock could dip to $140 with the tariffs coming in April.
Commenting on the deal, a watcher said the $30 billion could be slightly pricier. Wiz’s 2025 annual recurring revenue (ARR) target for 2025 suggests a forward sales multiple of 30 times compared to CrowdStrike’s 17.2x.
Alphabet ended Monday’s session down 0.73% at $164.29, trading off its all-time highs of $207.05 reached on Feb. 4 before the broader market sell-off began. It has lost over 13% year-to-date
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