GOOGL: Google Looks to Scoop Up Cyber Startup Wiz in $23 Billion Acquisition

Interest in new takeover comes weeks after tech giant walked away from acquiring $25 billion online marketing software firm HubSpot.

• Alphabet’s GOOGL Google is looking to buy cybersecurity firm Wiz in a $23 billion mega deal, the Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend. The acquisition, according to the report, is still weeks away but the two sides are making steady progress and are fleshing out the final details before signing off on the big-ticket agreement. Alphabet stock was flat ahead of Monday’s opening bell.
• If successful, the acquisition will be Google’s largest ever. It comes just weeks after the search mainstay walked away from dumping $25 billion on online marketing software firm HubSpot HUBS. Privately-held Wiz was founded just four years ago but has made quite a lot of noise since then. It builds and sells cybersecurity software for cloud computing and raised $1 billion earlier this year at a $12 billion valuation.
• On the other end is Google. The tech behemoth, despite its gargantuan size of $2 trillion, has shied away from dropping piles of cash on business takeovers. Its biggest acquisition so far is a $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility, which closed in 2012. This new deal, if it comes together, could help Google beef up its cloud-based cybersecurity business at a time when big tech is betting heavily on AI products.