(March 18): Alphabet said on Tuesday it would buy Wiz for US$32 billion (RM142.2 billion) in its biggest deal as the Google parent doubles down on cybersecurity to sharpen its edge in the cloud-computing race against Amazon.com and Microsoft.

The price tag is much higher than the roughly US$23 billion Google had offered for Wiz last year before antitrust worries forced the startup to shelve the deal.

The all-cash deal will bolster Google's cloud business with Wiz's AI-powered cybersecurity solutions that companies use to remove critical risks, helping it compete better in an industry benefitting from the rise of generative AI services like ChatGPT.

A harsh regulatory environment in 2024 had made it difficult for many firms to push through large deals, but Wall Street is optimistic that the Trump administration would drop some antitrust policies.

One of the fastest-growing software startups, Wiz offers cloud-based cybersecurity solutions and was valued at US$12 billion in a funding round last May.

After the Google deal collapsed, Wiz said in an internal memo that it would focus on an initial public offering and on higher recurring revenue.

Interest in the cybersecurity industry has been rising since last year's global CrowdStrike outage roiled operations across industries, prompting companies to invest heavily into safeguarding their online domains.

The deal is also the latest by Google to bolster its cybersecurity offerings. In 2022, the company acquired Mandiant for US$5.4 billion, outbidding Microsoft in a high-stakes contest.

Wiz works with major cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft's Azure, Oracle as well as Google Cloud, and counts Morgan Stanley, BMW and luxury powerhouse LVMH among its customers.

Shares of Google were down marginally in pre-market trading. The stock rose about 35% last year, but have lost 13% so far this year on investor worries over its hefty AI investments after the launch of lower-cost DeepSeek.

Google said it expected the deal to close in 2026. After that, Wiz would join Google's cloud unit, while its products will continue to be available across all other major cloud services.

Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja