Google-Wiz “Litmus test” to process TROMP Big Tech

Seven months ago, alphabet It lost a case of pavilion against the Ministry of Justice of the Biden Administration, which accused the company of maintaining an illegal monopoly in research. Weeks ago, Google sought the Wiz Cyber ​​Security Seller, while it could have been the largest deal ever, Fade Partially due to anti -monopoly concerns.

with Donald Trump Back to the White House, the alphabet returned to the attack.

The alphabet on Tuesday Agreed To buy Wiz for $ 32 billion in cash, approximately 10 billion dollars more than the proposed price in mid -2014, and she expects the deal to be closed next year, taking into account organizational approvals.

Wiz will sit in the Google cloud section, which is far from the dominant search works of the company. Google behind Amazon and Microsoft In cloud infrastructure, a place that would make the regulatory issue against a tie a challenge to any administration.

The Federal Trade Committee was during the reign of Lina Khan, thorny regarding technical deals, and strong transactions in ways frustrated Even prominent supporters of Democrats such as Red Hoffman and Mark Cuban. Google's pursuit of Wiz may be the first major test for the new FTC president Andrew Ferguson, as the technology industry treats how you will deal with Trump 2.0 industry that includes the largest American companies at the market value.

“It will be a great test and Belwether for merger and purchasing centers in 2025,” said Brad Haller, the first partner in the integration and acquisition of the West Monroe consulting company. “This happens relatively early this year means that it can be used as a measure of measurement.”

As a company backed by project, the deal will be a great view for silicon investment capital companies, which has struggled to generate returns since the first public party market Mostly closed In early 2022, large integration and purchasing operations went. After its peak at 780 billion dollars in 2021, the VC exit value decreased to 89.2 billion dollars the following year and to 71.6 billion dollars in 2023, according to October report From Pitchbook and National Venture Capital Association. In the third quarter of 2024, the number reached the lowest level in five quarters.

“The large acquisition strategy returned to the list of VC companies,” Haller said.

Index Ventures is the largest external investor in Wiz, followed by companies including Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners and Cyblestarts.

Stay away from a deal with Google in July, the co -founder of Wiz Asaf Rapaport wrote in a memo to employees that the company will instead follow the public subscription. There are some signs that the public subscription market is heating, as a company for artificial intelligence infrastructure CoruvAnd the start of digital health The health detailed And buy now, pay the lender later clear I have presented all the bulletin recently with the Supreme Education Council.

Economic uncertainty is the largest opposite wind, as President Trump's imposition of definitions on major commercial partners such as China, Mexico and Canada, as well as huge reductions in government spending, have led to fluctuations in intense market and have struck concerns about business and consumer. Nasdaq has been going in a rapid pace in the fifth consecutive weekly performance and the worst quarterly performance since 2022.

For Google, the attractiveness of obtaining Wiz deserves potential organizational risks. Reuters mentionedQuoted from a source, Wiz agreed to termination fee of more than $ 3.2 billion, which was called “one of the highest fees in the history of integration and purchase.”

Google refused to comment.

Founded in 2020 and Iz beaten $ 100 million in repeated annual revenues After only 18 months. The company's cloud security products include prevention, active discovery, and have become increasingly necessary because rapid progress in artificial intelligence has made attacks more sophisticated and perhaps more harmful.

“This price tells us that Google was almost desperate to increase the security aspect before adopting artificial intelligence more than speed,” said analysts at Gordon Hacskit in a note on Tuesday.

Google said in a statement On Tuesday, the deal announced that “the increasing role of the spontaneous organization and the adoption of cloud services has significantly changed the security scene of customers, which made cybersecurity increasingly important in defense against emerging risks and protecting national security.”

In Wiz's Blog post“It becomes a part of Google Cloud, it connects a missile to appear,” said Rappaport.

“The deal will face the organizational audit, but” from our point of view, it will have a stronger issue compared to the acquisition that focuses on the consumer. “The company said that Google has less than 15 % of the cloud services market.

The largest Google's acquisition during Biden's presidency was the purchase of the Cyber ​​Security Company for $ 5.4 billion Mandan. The giant search company was not the only large technology company that feels the regulatory heat.

To close Microsoft at the end 69 billion dollars in acquisition From the publisher of Activision Blizzard in late 2023, the company had to carry a 21 -month battle with the organizers, including a judicial effort by FTC. The agency also prosecution To be banned Dead The virtual reality company acquired the California Province Court Mockery FTC efforts.

Beyond the challenges of deals, metal, appleAmazon and Microsoft were all accused of monopolistic practices by the Ministry of Justice or FTC. In the case of Google, both sides followed the procedures.

Squawk Box told CNBC in January that she hopes that the Trump administration will not allow Amazon and Meta from the hook from anti -monopoly allowances with a “beloved deal”. Her comments came after many executives and technological companies, Including GoogleI pledged money towards the Trump installation box.

Ferguson suggested that his FTC will monitor the technology, although it has not provided much through detail. During Trump's first administration, the president had a particularly hostile relationship with this industry, routinely Move The founder of Amazon Jeff BezosEspecially for his ownership of The Washington Post, in addition to aiming at Meta and Google Alleged biases Towards his management.

These former enemies made additional efforts to change the tone this time, whether it means the end Diversity, fairness, integration, or flight programs to Washington to install Trump yet previously Visit the Mar Lago Resort in Florida.

In an interview with “Squawk Box” last week, Tech Big said is one of the main priorities of the administration.

“President Trump has appointed me to protect the Americans on the market,” Ferguson said. “I have said from the first day, the big technology is one of our main priorities, and this is still true.”

Jonathan Canner, former assistant public prosecutor of the Anti -Monopath Department of the Ministry of Justice during the Biden era, He said On CNBC on Tuesday, it is likely that the huge regulatory review is on its way to the Google-Wiz deal. He said that it is not only about Google's position in the cloud, but also the amount of data controlled by the company.

“I don't think the Wiz deal will reduce the road for quick approval,” said Canter, who is now a contributor to CNBC. “It will be a long way. They will have to consider many documents, a lot of data and understand whether it will really lead to the establishment of the market power of Google in many different markets.”

Jordan Novit and Samantha Subin contributed to CNBC to this report.

He watches: Full CNBC interview with FTC Andrew Ferguson President