Wiz’s decision to decline Google’s acquisition offer could significantly affect Microsoft and the tech sector at large. Google aimed to acquire the Israeli cybersecurity company Wiz for $23 billion, but Wiz’s CEO Assaf Rappaport announced on Tuesday that they opted to reject the deal in favor of pursuing their goal of achieving $1 billion in annual revenue and an IPO.
This acquisition would have strengthened Google’s cybersecurity capabilities, particularly as the industry experienced upheaval from a major outage linked to CrowdStrike last week. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives noted that investor apprehensions and ongoing antitrust issues contributed to the deal’s collapse. Google has faced increasing scrutiny from antitrust regulators and recently concluded a trial involving a significant case brought by the Department of Justice.
Ives expressed that the failure of this deal would have wide-reaching effects throughout the sector. Despite this setback, he believes Google will likely intensify its efforts in expanding its cybersecurity services, a path Microsoft may also pursue.
He emphasized that consolidation in the cybersecurity field is overdue and anticipated that Microsoft could seek to enhance its own cybersecurity offerings within the next 12 to 18 months. The recent global IT outage caused by a faulty update to CrowdStrike’s software has put Microsoft in a challenging light, with users worldwide reporting system failures. While Ives continues to regard CrowdStrike as a leader in cybersecurity, the incident underscores the need for Microsoft to bolster its cybersecurity initiatives, further amplified by the dissolution of the Wiz deal.