• Google parent Alphabet has struck a deal to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz for $32 billion in an all-cash transaction, the tech giant’s largest acquisition ever. 
• Wiz will join Google’s cloud business if the deal is approved by regulators.
• Oppenheimer analysts said before the formal announcement of the deal that having Wiz will allow Google to be “the leading vendor in the cloud security space and a top 10 vendor in security.”

Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) has struck a deal to buy cybersecurity startup Wiz for $32 billion in an all-cash transaction, the tech giant’s largest acquisition ever.

Wiz will join Google’s cloud business, Alphabet said, if the deal is approved.

“This acquisition represents an investment by Google Cloud to accelerate two large and growing trends in the AI era: improved cloud security and the ability to use multiple clouds (multicloud),” Alphabet said in its statement. 

The Wall Street Journal had reported that Alphabet would be trying again to buy Wiz for $30 billion Monday. Alphabet showed interest in acquiring the company last year at a lower price, according to reports. Dealogic said that a $32 billion takeover of Wiz would mark the largest ever transaction by Alphabet, well over the previous number one: its $13 billion takeover of Motorola Mobility more than a decade ago.

In a note based on reports of a pending deal Monday, Oppenheimer analysts said that having Wiz will allow Google to be “the leading vendor in the cloud security space and a top 10 vendor in security.” They added that with the addition of Wiz, Google moves from ”partner to direct competitor” for Palo Alto Networks Inc. (PANW), CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (CRWD) and Fortinet (FTNT), “which will need to rethink their partnership and pricing strategy.”

Alphabet shares are down around 4% Tuesday and are up more than 7% in the past 12 months. Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike and Fortinet are all down around 1%.