Google’s $32 billion Wiz deal gets green light from US Justice Department
Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport confirmed the conclusion of the DOJ’s review, though he noted that the deal remains under examination by other global regulators.
Google has cleared a key regulatory barrier in its $32 billion acquisition of cybersecurity company Wiz, after the U.S. Department of Justice ended its antitrust review of the deal.
The Justice Department’s decision to terminate its investigation was recorded on October 24, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s website, marking an “early termination” of the mandatory review period. The rare designation means that U.S. antitrust officials found no grounds to delay or block the merger, effectively paving the way for the companies to close the transaction.
Wiz CEO Assaf Rappaport confirmed the conclusion of the DOJ’s review during a Wall Street Journal event on Tuesday, though he noted that the deal remains under examination by other global regulators.
"Definitely, this is an important milestone, but we’re still in the journey between signing and closing," Rappaport said, when asked about the DOJ review of the deal.
"We look forward to completing the review process in other jurisdictions. The acquisition of Wiz is expected to close in 2026, subject to customary closing conditions," a Google spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement.
The move comes at an unusual moment. The FTC had previously said it would not grant early terminations during the U.S. government shutdown, when agency operations were curtailed. Yet the notice for Google’s acquisition of Wiz, dated before a similar approval for Pfizer’s latest deal, appeared on the FTC website only after the Pfizer posting, suggesting the decision had been finalized earlier but delayed in publication.
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For Google, the timing of the DOJ’s decision provides a measure of relief amid an otherwise hostile regulatory climate. In recent months, U.S. judges have ruled that the company illegally monopolized markets for both online search and advertising technology, raising the prospect of a court-ordered breakup of parts of its ad tech business.
While the Wiz acquisition has drawn far less political attention than Google’s ongoing antitrust battles, it remains strategically significant. The deal would mark Google’s largest purchase, reinforcing its push into cloud cybersecurity at a moment when regulators are increasingly wary of big tech consolidation.
