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Google’s parent company and Wiz have ended talks on a proposed $23bn acquisition, terminating what would have been the largest deal in the search group’s history.
Google parent company Alphabet had been in talks to buy the Israeli cyber security company in what would also have ranked as the biggest ever purchase of a venture-backed company, according to PitchBook, a data provider.
“While we are flattered by offers we have received, we have chosen to continue on our path to building Wiz,” the company told employees in an email on Monday. A second person familiar with the matter confirmed that the deal had fallen through.
Wiz, which was last valued at $12bn and has the backing of major venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital and Thrive Capital, will now target an initial public offering, according to the email to staff, which did not set a timeframe for a listing.
Wiz did not release an official statement. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wiz was founded by alumni of Israel’s elite cyber intelligence unit, and has offices in Tel Aviv as well as in the US.
Some members of both the Alphabet and Wiz boards of directors had been sceptical the deal would get past regulators, according to two people familiar with the deal. Once the deal became public, factions on each board lobbied against the deal, ultimately killing it, the people said.
Antitrust regulators have taken an increasingly hard line on Big Tech dealmaking in recent years.
“Lina Khan killed another deal,” one of the people involved in the deal said, referring to the chair of the Federal Trade Commission.
Adobe abandoned plans to acquire product design software company Figma for $20bn late last year, saying there was “no clear path to receive necessary regulatory approvals” from UK and EU watchdogs. Big Tech tie-ups with leading artificial intelligence start-ups such as Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI are also being examined by regulators.