Alphabet’s [GOOG] Google subsidiary on Tuesday said it has agreed to acquire the cybersecurity company Mandiant [MNDT] for $5.4 billion in cash in a deal aimed at giving it a comprehensive suite of security offerings.
The $23 per share offer represents a 57 percent premium to the average price of Mandiant’s shares for 10 days before Feb. 7, which is when reports surfaced that Mandiant might be sold.
The transaction is subject to approvals by regulators and Mandiant’s shareholders and is expected to close later this year. Mandiant will be part of Google Cloud, which provides enterprises with cloud networking solutions and has customers in more than 200 countries and territories.
“Organizations around the world are facing unprecedented cybersecurity challenges as the sophistication and severity of attacks that were previously used to target major governments are now being used to target companies in every industry,” Google Cloud CEO Thomas Curian said in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming Mandiant to Google Cloud to further enhance our strategic operations suite and advisory services, and help customers address their most important security challenges.”
Mandiant said that becoming part of Google, which is a $257 billion company, will “bring Google speed and scale to Mandiant’s unparalleled intelligence and expertise, at a time when security has never been more important.”
Google Cloud currently offers zero-trust and virus security, automation and response tools, security analytics, a security command center, and a cybersecurity action team. Mandiant brings a range of security as a service (SaaS) expertise including strategic security advice, threat detection and intelligence, testing and validation, and managed defense.
“Google Cloud shares our mission-driven culture to bring security to every organization,” Kevin Mandia, Mandiant’s CEO, said in a statement. “Together, we will deliver our expertise and intelligence at scale via the Mandiant Advantage SaaS platform, as part of the Google Cloud security portfolio.”
Mandiant had $483 million in sales in 2021 and net income of $900,135. The company is forecasting sales between $555 million and $565 million this year. The company has more than 600 consultants and more than 300 intelligence analysts.