Google is acquiring Reston’s Mandiant for $5.4B

Industry giant Google is set to acquire local cybersecurity firm Mandiant for a cool $5.4 billion, the companies announced today.

Mandiant, a threat intelligence company based in Reston, Virginia, has been a power player in the space for 18 years. Google acquired the 2,000-person company at $23 per share, all cash, and Mandiant will join Google Cloud when the deal closes.

The Mountain View, California-based company said this acquisition is further proof of its security priorities. With this deal, Google Cloud will further build on its end-to-end security suite and advisory services.

Mandiant directed Technical.ly to its company statement in lieu of answering questions about the deal.

“Cyber security 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,” said Kevin Mandia, Mandiant CEO, in the 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. These efforts will help organizations to effectively, efficiently and continuously manage and configure their complex mix of security products.”

Ahead of this announcement, Mandiant was allegedly in talks to be acquired by fellow tech giant Microsoft, Washington Business Journal reported in late February. At the time, the company told WBJ that it doesn’t comment on rumors, but added that Mandiant partners with everybody, including Microsoft.

This isn’t Mandiant’s first acquisition rodeo, either. The company was purchased by California-based cyber firm FireEye, which had expanded to Reston before being subsumed under Trellix, in 2013 for approximately $1 billion. But late last year, Mandiant sold FireEye’s product business to McAfee Enterprises for $1.2 billion.