Google’s largest acquisition in its history is now being reviewed by the U.S. Justice Department to see if Google’s $32 billion buy of Wiz illegally limits market competition.
The United States DOJ is reviewing whether the deal would illegally limit competition in the marketplace, according a report by Bloomberg News.
This news comes just months after the DOJ ruled that Google’s online search and advertising business practices violated antitrust laws.
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Google’s $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity startup superstar Wiz would mark Google’s largest acquisition in its long history.
The Google-Wiz deal is expected to face several months of review from the DOJ. Google and Wiz did not respond for comment by press time.
Google Violated Antitrust Laws
Google is facing lawsuits from the Department of Justice over its dominant position in the online search and advertising technology markets.
In April, a federal judge ruled that Google violated antitrust laws in order to hold a monopoly over online advertising technology.
“Plaintiffs have proven that Google has willfully engaged in a series of anti-competitive acts to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising,” said U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema Thursday in her April case filing.
The court ruling opens the door to allow prosecutors to pursue a potential breakup of Google’s advertising products.
“For over a decade, Google has tied its publisher ad server and ad exchange together through contractual policies and technological integration, which enabled the company to establish and protect its monopoly power in these two markets,” Judge Brinkema said. “Google further entrenched its monopoly power by imposing anti-competitive policies on its customers and eliminating desirable product features.”
Google’s $5.3 Billion Buy Of Mandiant
In 2022, Google pulled the trigger on one of its biggest acquisitions ever with the purchase of threat intelligence security standout Mandiant for $5.4 billion.
The deal was successfully completed, and Mandiant technology has become a staple inside Google’s security portfolio.
However, Google’s Wiz deal is significantly larger. The DOJ is reportedly reviewing the risk that Google could start bundling key security features into its Google Cloud Platform (GCP) stack and potentially block out competitors.
Google Cloud’s Integration Plans With Wiz
If the deal is finalized, Wiz will be integrated into Google’s $49 billion cloud group, Google Cloud.
The overall goal is to improve Google’s cloud security and the ability to use multiple clouds, known as multi-cloud.
“This will help spur the adoption of multi-cloud cybersecurity, the use of multi-cloud, and competition and growth in cloud computing,” said Google Cloud’s CEO Thomas Kurian earlier this year.
The combined company aims to help customers create a stronger foundation for cloud security with a portfolio including a next-generation unified security platform that combines Wiz’s Cloud Security Platform with Google Security Operations.
“We are aiming to provide customers with better security for enterprise systems and lower the cost of maintaining a strong security posture across their on-premises and multi-cloud environments,” said Kurian.
