Cybersecurity company Wizz has turned down a $23bn (£18bn) takeover offer from Google’s parent Alphabet, making it the largest takeover bid ever for a tech company, and has opted for a stock market listing instead.
Alphabet had been in discussions with Wizz, a company established by graduates of Israel’s cyber-intelligence program, in an effort to catch up with competitors Microsoft and Amazon in the competitive cloud-services market.
Wiz provides a service that scans data on cloud storage platforms like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure for potential security threats.
The New York-based startup, which is financially backed by investors such as Sequoia Capital and Thrive Capital, was last valued at $12 billion.
In an internal email to employees, the company expressed gratitude for the offer but decided to remain committed to its mission of building Wiz. CEO Assaf Rapaport outlined the company’s objectives of reaching $1 billion in annual recurring revenue and going public.
Despite the tempting offer, the company’s trust in its skilled team reaffirmed their decision. The positive response from the market further reinforced their aim to create a platform that is loved by both security and development teams.
As of Tuesday morning, neither Wizz nor Google have released an official statement regarding the end of the acquisition negotiations.
There are concerns that the deal may face regulatory challenges as authorities seek to tighten their control over acquisitions involving major tech companies.
Last month, the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission agreed to investigate leading players in the AI market, including Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia.
Established in 2020, Wizz was valued at $12 billion in a funding round in May, attracting investments from Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Thrive.
Wiz claims to have 40% of the Fortune 100 as clients and boasts an annual recurring revenue of $350 million.
Source: www.theguardian.com
