Google talks to cybersecurity firm Wiz break down – WSJ

Google (NASDAQ:)’s discussions regarding the potential acquisition of cybersecurity startup Wiz for a planned $23 billion have fallen apart, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

The WSJ said that in an email to employees sent Monday, which it had viewed, Wiz Chief Executive Assaf Rappaport stated the company is now seeking an initial public offering.

He reportedly wrote: “Wizards, I know the last week has been intense, with the buzz about a potential acquisition.”

“While we are flattered by offers we have received, we have chosen to continue on our path to building Wiz.”

He is said to have added that the company intends to hit $1 billion in annual recurring revenue ahead of the IPO.

The WSJ added that the size of a potential deal would be talks would have been unpredictable. However, they note it is possible the companies could return to the negotiating table.

Reacting to the report, analysts at TD Cowen said in a note that “the apparent termination of these talks might have been driven by anti-trust concerns. They acknowledged that the cloud security market, which was estimated at $35 billion in 2022, is yet to be dominated by a handful of leaders.

Meanwhile, analysts said they believe “there will be ripple impacts across the sector from this deal not happening.”

“First off, Google still wants to double down on cyber security and the
cloud shift has only accelerated this potential strategic move,” they wrote. “We also believe for Microsoft as well as Google and Amazon, the CrowdStrike disaster outage since Friday has further highlighted the interconnected nature of cyber security software and the cloud ecosystem.”

While the Wiz deal is off the table for now, analysts say this could start an M&A cycle as large cloud and tech stalwarts look to acquire cybersecurity software within their broader product portfolio.

“We believe consolidation is overdue in the cyber security sector and we would expect Microsoft to potentially go down this path and look to beef up its own cyber security platform over the coming 12 to 18 months along with Google looking for other candidates on both the public/private cyber security vendor front,” the firm concludes.