- Alphabets $32B all-cash deal to buy multicloud security firm Wiz, its largest acquisition, is slated to close in 2026 and carries a $3.2B breakup fee if blocked.
- The U.S. DOJ cleared the transaction in November 2025, leaving the European Commission as the key remaining regulator.
- After a January 7, 2026 filing, the EU must decide by February 10, 2026 to approve the deal (possibly with remedies) or open a Phase II probe.
- Regulators and analysts are focused on vertical integration risks, including whether Google would preserve Wizs multicloud neutrality or self-prefer Google Cloud.
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The $32 billion acquisition of Wiz marks Alphabet’s biggest acquisition to date and is a strategic move intended to deepen its cybersecurity capabilities in the AI-era, especially for multicloud environments. The deal was announced on March 18, 2025, with Alphabet committing that Wiz would be integrated into Google Cloud once regulatory approvals were secured. U.S. regulatory approval — specifically from the DOJ — was achieved in November 2025; the remaining major regulatory review is with the European Commission, which officially received the filing on January 7, 2026. Regulations require a decision by February 10, 2026, whether to approve the merger or to open a more thorough Phase II investigation.
Strategic benefits for Alphabet include bolstering security offerings across all major cloud platforms—not just Google’s own—something Wiz already supports; enhancing prevention (“left of boom”) security capabilities; reinforcing cloud infrastructure during a period of AI‐driven risk escalation; and better positioning vs. competitors such as AWS and Azure. Alphabet’s cloud business is seeing rapid growth, with a reported cloud run rate of $61 billion in 2025, underscoring why securing Wiz is seen as a multiplier for growth in cybersecurity revenue streams.
However, significant regulatory risks and strategic trade‐offs remain. EU regulators may be concerned about abuse of dominance—how Google could favor its own cloud environment while maintaining Wiz’s multicloud neutrality. Experts compare these concerns to past oversight failures such as with DoubleClick, where regulators underestimated vertical harms. The $3.2 billion potential breakup fee (≈10 % of deal value) underscores both seriousness of risk and Alphabet’s confidence—but also the substantial downside if regulators balk.
Other open questions include: whether Google will maintain Wiz’s platform neutrality in practice; how much integration with Google Cloud is planned (both for tech stack and go-to-market); whether the deal will further trigger concerns in other jurisdictions; and how competitors, especially well-capitalized cloud and security firms, will respond.
Supporting Notes
- Google announced a $32 billion all-cash deal to acquire Wiz, with the transaction expected to close in 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
- The acquisition was cleared by the U.S. DOJ in November 2025.
- EU regulators—European Commission—must decide by February 10, 2026, whether to approve the deal or open a Phase II investigation following a January 7, 2026 filing.
- If blocked, Google could owe a breakup fee of $3.2 billion.
- Wiz, founded in 2020, provides multicloud security monitoring across AWS, Azure, GCP, and Oracle Cloud; it was valued at $700 million in annual recurring revenue when the acquisition was announced.
- Analysts warn about vertical integration and loss of platform neutrality, citing parallels to Google’s earlier acquisition of DoubleClick and subsequent anticompetitive behavior.
- The EU’s preliminary review allows for conditional clearance, demands for remedies, or referral to deeper investigation if competition concerns emerge.