Google to buy Mandiant in $5.4bn deal

Under the terms of the transaction, Google will pay $23 per share and upon closing, Mandiant will join Google Cloud.

Google said the acquisition will complement Cloud’s existing strengths in security. Thomas Kurian, chief executive of Google Cloud, said: "Organisations 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.

"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."

Mandiant CEO Kevin Mandia said: "There has never been a more critical time in cybersecurity. Since our founding in 2004, Mandiant’s mission has been to combat cyber attacks and protect our customers from the latest threats.

"To that end, we are thrilled to be joining forces with Google Cloud. Together, we will deliver expertise and intelligence at scale, changing the security industry."

The acquisition is expected to close later this year.