Google to buy cybersecurity firm Mandiant for $5.4 billion
- Dan Primack, author of Axios Pro Rata
Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Google has agreed to buy Mandiant (Nasdaq: MNDT), a Reston, Va.-based cybersecurity firm, for $5.4 billion in cash.
Why it matters: The deal reflects how the rise of cloud computing comes with increased cybersecurity needs, which is why Microsoft was also interested in buying Mandiant — a company that recently generated headlines for uncovering the SolarWinds hack.
Details: The $23 per share price represents around a 53% premium to where Mandiant traded before the first reports of Microsoft's interest, and an 18.7% premium to where shares opened Monday. Mandiant shares last topped $23 at the end of 2020.
The bottom line: Axios previously noted that Microsoft's pursuit of Mandiant was evidence that the Biden administration's antitrust efforts aren't scaring Big Tech off of multi-billion dollar acquisitions. Replace Microsoft with Google, and the same takeaway applies.