Google officially announced that it will acquire a network security company for US$23 per share in cash.

Google officially announced that it will acquire a network security company for US$23 per share in cash. As network attacks increase day by day, Google Google is strengthening its network security layout with Mandiant. Google officially announced that it will acquire a network security company for US$23 per share in cash. Google officially announced that it will acquire a network security company for US$23 per share in cash 1

Google parent company Alphabet announced on Tuesday that it plans to acquire the network security company Mandiant for approximately US$5.4 billion. If the deal goes through, it would be Google's second-largest acquisition ever, behind the $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility in 2012. Google's third largest acquisition was smart home manufacturer Nest, which it acquired for $3.2 billion in 2014.

Mandiant will join Google’s cloud computing division. Previously, there were rumors that Microsoft was a potential buyer of Mandiant. Microsoft and Google have been vying for control of the cloud services market.

This transaction can support Google’s cloud computing business. Google’s cloud business generates more than $19 billion in profits every year, but it also loses billions of dollars every year. The acquisition of Mandiant can help strengthen its cloud security business. To better compete with Microsoft Azure cloud services.

It is reported that Mandiant has a market value of approximately US$5.25 billion and focuses on network incident response and network security testing. It was previously affiliated with FireEye and was later sold.

The transaction is expected to close later this year.

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said in a statement: "Cyberattacks that previously targeted major governments are now being used against companies across a variety of industries and organizations around the world. All are facing unprecedented cybersecurity challenges. "We look forward to welcoming Mandiant to Google Cloud to further enhance our security operations suite and consulting services and help customers solve security issues."

Alphabet Chief Financial Officer. CEO Ruth Porat said of Mandiant: "Investments like Mandiant's are necessary to compete with the largest cloud service provider, market leader Amazon Web Services, and No. 2 Microsoft Azure."

In a previous blog post, The company said Mandiant will match Chronicle's products. “Security operations tools from Google Cloud’s Chronicle and Siemplify solutions and Mandiant’s Automated Defense help customers analyze, prioritize and streamline threat response, and leverage Mandiant’s expertise as an extension of their teams,” the blog post said. Chronicle was originally a separate company under Alphabet's "Other Bets" umbrella, but was folded into Google's cloud business in 2019.

Investment bank Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday, "As cyber attacks increase day by day, Google is strengthening its network security layout with Mandiant and hopes to compete with Amazon in the cloud computing race. Giants such as Microsoft and Amazon have widened the gap."

Ives said he expected the deal to have a "significant ripple effect" in the field of cybersecurity.

"Amazon and Microsoft will now be forced to make acquisitions and further grow their cloud platforms." Networking companies like Varonis, Tenable, CyberArk, Qualys, Rapid7, SailPoint and Ping are among a handful of private companies that have significant expertise in cybersecurity. are potential M&A candidates as these vendors are focused on protecting next-generation cloud workloads from cyberattacks. ”

Network security is also playing an increasingly important role in the cloud market. Google officially announced that it will acquire a network security company 2 for US$23 per share in cash

Google announced that it will Google acquired cybersecurity company Mandiant for $23 per share in cash, with a total transaction value of approximately $5.4 billion, including Mandiant’s net cash.

Google said in a statement that cybersecurity is a top priority for global security issues. , and "cloud" represents a new way to change the security model, which can help enterprises respond to and protect themselves from various cyber threats, while also accelerating digital transformation.

The acquisition of Mandiant will complement this. "Google Cloud"'s existing advantages in security. With the addition of Mandiant, Google Cloud will strengthen its existing products and provide an "end-to-end" security operation suite to provide customers with stronger support.

Google said: "As a recognized leader in strategic security consulting and incident response services, Mandiant has real-time and in-depth threat intelligence obtained from the front lines of cybersecurity. Combined with Google Cloud’s existing security offerings, it will ensure global enterprises are protected at every stage of the security lifecycle. "

Porat elaborated on the reasons for the acquisition of Mandiant at the meeting. She said that the acquisition will play an important role in Google's rapidly growing cloud computing division.

Porat Rutter said: "Mandiant plays a special role in the cybersecurity field and allows us to obtain end-to-end security solutions. This is our commitment to cybersecurity and our most important work in cloud computing. We start by ensuring we have depth and breadth in industry verticals that allow us to address the specific needs of various industries including finance, retail, healthcare and more. "

She also added that acquiring companies like Mandiant is very necessary for Alphabet. The company's main competitors in the cloud computing business are Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure. According to reports, Microsoft also had plans to acquire Mandiant before. But they withdrew from acquisition talks earlier this year.

Porat said: “Today’s market is also growing rapidly, and friends have also expanded their scale. We are still focused on profitability, and what is clear is that we will continue to invest in the near future to provide comprehensive support for the cloud computing business. ”

In the fourth quarter of 2021, Google Cloud service revenue was US$5.54 billion, a year-on-year increase of 45%, and its operating loss was US$890 million, which was narrower than the US$1.14 billion loss a year ago. . However, the loss expanded from the third quarter to US$644 million.

Porat said that one of the main requirements of cloud customers is the ability of AI and data automation. Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said in a blog post that in terms of security, they want to achieve faster and more sophisticated threat detection. The company said Mandiant will work with the company from Chronicle. Chronicle was originally an independent company among Alphabet's "other investments" and was absorbed into Google Cloud in 2019.

The blog post reads: “Google Cloud’s Chronicle and Siemplify solutions can work with Mandiant’s security operations tools in automated defense to help customers analyze, prioritize and streamline threat response, and leverage Mandiant’s expertise. Knowledge as a virtual extension of the team. ”

Mandiant said in its most recent annual report that its customers include some U.S. government agencies. In 2020, the company said it was investigating the cyberattack with the FBI. Google officially announced that it will acquire a network security company 3 for US$23 per share in cash

Google announced on Tuesday (March 8) that the company plans to acquire Mandiant to better protect its cloud computing service customers. The tech giant said it would pay $23 per share to the cybersecurity company, which was founded in 2004, valuing the deal at about $5.4 billion.

The transaction is expected to close later this year. If ultimately approved by regulators, it would be Google's second-largest acquisition ever, behind its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola in 2012. Google's third-largest acquisition was smart home product maker Nest in 2014 for $3.2 billion.

Mandiant’s market value is approximately US$5.25 billion. After the acquisition is completed, Mandiant will join Google’s cloud computing department. Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud Computing, said in a statement: "Around the world, we are facing unprecedented cybersecurity challenges. In the past, attacks mainly targeted governments, but now they include companies in every industry."

Kurian added: "We look forward to Mandiant joining Google Cloud to help Further strengthening our security operations suite and consulting services, and helping customers solve their most important security challenges."

The media first announced this news yesterday, and Mandiant's stock price closed up 16% on Monday.

Investment bank Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday, "As cyber attacks increase day by day, Google is strengthening its network security layout with Mandiant and hopes to compete with Amazon in the cloud computing race. Giants such as Microsoft and Amazon have widened the gap."

Ives told investors that the deal could have a "significant impact" on the entire cybersecurity field and "cloud computing. Backbones Amazon and Microsoft are now under pressure from mergers and acquisitions and may further expand their cloud computing platform armaments. "

Ives pointed out that "there are also some network security companies that are now becoming potential acquisition targets." Due to the influence of international geopolitics, the valuations of these companies have been low recently, which may be the best time for technology giants to acquire them.