Wiz chooses IPO over $23B acquisition deal

CNBC reports that cloud cybersecurity startup Wiz has rejected Google parent Alphabet's takeover bid of $23 billion in lieu of an initial public offering, which had been planned before the acquisition talks began.

While the purchase deal would have increased the startup's $12 billion valuation by almost twofold, Wiz intends to focus more on reaching $1 billion in annual recurring revenue, said Wiz co-founder Assaf Rappaport in a memo to employees. No additional reasons for the rejection of the acquisition deal were provided but a source close to the matter noted investor and antitrust issues that may result from the agreement, which could have been Alphabet's largest had it been successful. Such a development comes after Alphabet, which entered a $5.4 billion deal to purchase cybersecurity firm Mandiant two years ago, thumbed down the purchase of online marketing software firm HubSpot following talks earlier this year.