Cloud cybersecurity startup Wiz has abandoned a $23 billion deal with Google parent Alphabet, the agency reports. Reuters citing a startup memorandum. Earlier, the agency reported on ongoing negotiations between the two companies, which were allegedly one step away from concluding a deal.
Image source: Wiz
The American-Israeli startup’s CEO Assaf Rappaport said Wiz will now focus on an initial public offering as previously planned, with a goal of reaching $1 billion in annual recurring revenue.
“It is difficult to refuse such humiliating offers, but thanks to our exceptional team, I am confident I will make this choice,” Rappaport wrote in a note, referring to the acquisition offer.
As Reuters noted, neither Alphabet nor Wiz have officially confirmed that they are in talks to acquire the startup. What is also noteworthy is that Wiz’s memo does not mention either Google or Alphabet.
Wiz raised $1 billion in a recent funding round, raising its market value to $12 billion. According to Wiz’s website, the startup will have revenue of about $350 million in 2023. Wiz provides cloud-based cybersecurity solutions that identify and mitigate critical risks on AI-powered cloud platforms. Its customers include about 40% of the Fortune 100 companies.
If successful, Alphabet’s proposed deal would have been the largest acquisition in the holding’s history and one of the largest in the tech sector in recent memory, but the startup was not satisfied with his proposal. Perhaps later, the details of the negotiations and the reason for the deal’s failure will become known. For Alphabet, this was the second unsuccessful takeover attempt in recent memory, after the rejection of a deal to buy online marketing software developer HubSpot.
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