Google revives talks to acquire Wiz at higher valuation

Group 1 - Alphabet, Google's parent company, is in advanced talks to acquire cloud cybersecurity startup Wiz, with discussions indicating a valuation of around $30 billion, higher than the previous $23 billion valuation last summer [1] - Wiz's annual recurring revenue (ARR) was reported at $500 million last July, with plans to reach $1 billion in ARR by 2025 [2] - Wiz's valuation has increased from $12 billion during its last funding round to approximately $16 billion in an employee tender offer late last year [3] Group 2 - Previous acquisition talks failed due to disagreements on whether Wiz would operate as a separate division or be integrated into Google Cloud, as well as high regulatory scrutiny under the Biden administration [4] - There is an observed increase in M&A activity, with hopes that the current FTC Chair will be less restrictive on large transactions compared to the previous chair [5] - Wiz was founded in 2020 by former Israeli military officers and has notable backers including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia [6]