Update: Google acquires cybersecurity company Mandiant for $5.4 billion

Google Cloud

A second party is interested in security specialist Mandiant. Google reportedly has already made a bid.

Update: Mandiant is officially becoming part of Google Cloud. Google itself confirmed that in an announcement. Google is counting down $23 per share, putting the total amount estimated at $5.4 billion. Just over the current market value. The acquisition is expected to be completed later this year.

Original: Microsoft is no longer the only interested party in Mandiant. In February, it leaked that the tech giant was holding talks with Mandiant about a possible acquisition. The acquisition of Mandiant would be a logical move for Microsoft in the race to provide the most secure public cloud for customers.

What Microsoft may not have expected is that major competitor Google is also angling for an acquisition. The Information reports that Google has already made an offer. What amount Google would like to put down for the acquisition is unclear.

The news sent Mandiant’s market share soaring once again. The company rose 16 percent in market capitalization and now has a market value of $5.3 billion.

Google Cloud

Google’s cloud offerings would better compete with Amazon and Microsoft’s cloud through the acquisition of Mandiant. Google has a much smaller share of the security software market than Microsoft. Therefore, should the acquisition end up with a visit to the antitrust authority, Google has a much better chance of getting away with its expansion plans.

Microsoft already has a strong security arm and has nothing to complain about in terms of security for its cloud offerings as well. Just last month, Microsoft announced that its Defender for Cloud will now support the Google Cloud Platform.

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Microsoft holds talks to acquire security specialist Mandiant