Google to buy Reston cybersecurity firm for $5.4B

Reston-based cybersecurity firm Mandiant Inc. has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Google LLC in an all-cash transaction valued at $5.4 billion, Mandiant and Google announced Tuesday.

Google will pay $23 per share for Mandiant, and when the deal closes, Mandiant will join Google Cloud. The deal is expected to close later this year.

If approved, it would be Google’s second-largest acquisition ever, behind the $12.5 billion Motorola deal in 2012, according to CNBC.

“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 Thomas Kurian said in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming Mandiant to Google Cloud to further enhance our security operations suite and advisory services, and help customers address their most important security challenges.”

The acquisition of Mandiant will complement Google Cloud’s existing strengths in security, extending to customer support in the cloud and on-premise computers, according to a news release. Mandiant, founded in 2004, has more than 600 consultants and more than 300 intelligence analysts.

“Cybersecurity is a mission, and we believe it’s one of the most important of our generation. Google Cloud shares our mission-driven culture to bring security to every organization,” Mandiant CEO Kevin Mandia said. “Together, we will deliver our expertise and intelligence at scale via the Mandiant Advantage SaaS platform, as part of the Google Cloud security portfolio. These efforts will help organizations to effectively, efficiently and continuously manage and configure their complex mix of security products.”

Mandiant sold its FireEye products business to McAfee Enterprise for $1.2 billion in October 2021.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, Mandiant’s revenue was $133 million, an increase of 21% over the fourth quarter of 2020. Its revenue for the year was $483 million, an increase of 21% year-over-year.