US Justice Department concludes review of $32 billion Google-Wiz deal

The U.S. Justice Department on Nov. 5 issued an “early termination” of its review of Google’s $32 billion acquisition of Wiz.

According to numerous reports, this rare designation means that U.S. antitrust officials had no grounds to delay or block the merger, paving the way for the transaction to continue.

While other regulatory approvals are pending in other countries, the Justice Department’s approval was viewed as a big step for Google and Wiz, which announced the deal back in March of this year.

“Google’s proposed acquisition of Wiz is a massive validation for the entire cloud security market,” said Karen Walker, chief financial officer at Sysdig. “A $32 billion deal underscores what we’ve all been witnessing: cloud-native security has become mission-critical for modern businesses, not just a nice-to-have.”

Despite this positive outlook, Walker said Sysdig’s executives have heard that Wiz customers have expressed concerns regarding cloud security independence.

“Wiz customers operating in other clouds are suddenly at risk of becoming second-class citizens, facing higher costs and slower innovation,” said Walker. “At its scale, Google will naturally align Wiz more tightly with its own platform and roadmap, and the other cloud providers are likely to be less open to sharing their roadmap with Wiz. This roadmap sharing between partners is so important for security companies to stay aligned with cloud innovation.”

Danny Brickman, co-founder and CEO at Oasis Security, added that Google’s investment in Wiz represents a ringing affirmation of the vital role next-generation cybersecurity companies play in today’s cloud-driven, AI-powered world.

“This not only validates the immense value of innovative cybersecurity solutions, it also signals a bright future for the industry as a whole,” said Brickman. “As we look ahead, the next frontier is clear: securing identities. In an era where identities are the keys to the kingdom — across clouds, applications, and data — protecting them will be the cornerstone of enterprise security.”