Cybersecurity
startup
Wiz
has
turned
down
a
$23
billion
takeover
bid
from
Google’s
parent,
Alphabet,
breaking
off
what
would
have
been
the
largest
acquisition
in
the
search
giant’s
history.
In
an
internal
memo
seen
by
CNBC,
Wiz
co-founder
Assaf
Rappaport
said
the
company
would
instead
pursue
an
initial
public
offering.
“Saying
no
to
such
humbling
offers
is
tough,”
Rappaport
said
in
the
memo
sent
to
Wiz
employees.
Had
the
acquisition
gone
ahead,
it
would
have
doubled
the
$12
billion
valuation
that
Wiz
announced
in
May
after
the
company
raised
$1
billion
in
private
funding.
According
to
the
memo,
Wiz
will
now
focus
on
achieving
$1
billion
in
annual
recurring
revenue
alongside
the
IPO
—
goals
the
security
firm
had
set
before
its
talks
with
Google.
Neither
Wiz
nor
Alphabet
have
officially
acknowledged
that
a
deal
was
being
discussed.
Wiz
offers
cloud-based
security
solutions
for
enterprise
customers,
an
attractive
target
that
could
have
placed
Google
in
a
better
position
to
compete
with
industry
leaders
Microsoft
and
Amazon.
Antitrust
regulators
have
increasingly
fixated
on
deals
made
by
Big
Tech
in
recent
years,
however,
and
according
to
CNBC,
both
antitrust
and
investor
concerns
were
cited
as
reasons
for
Wiz
abandoning
the
deal.
The
Justice
Department
has
already
launched
two
ongoing
antitrust
lawsuits
against
Google
over
its
search
engine
and
digital
advertising
businesses.
Google
purchased
two
cybersecurity
firms
in
2022
—
Siemplify
and
Mandiant
—
for
$500
million
and
$5.4
billion,
respectively,
with
the
latter
company
best
recognized
for
uncovering
the
SolarWinds
hack.
(Originally posted by Jess Weatherbed)
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