Only a week in the past there have been stories that cybersecurity big Palo Alto Networks (Nasdaq:PANW) was mulling the acquisition of Israeli cybersecurity firm SentinelOne (NYSE: S). Then yesterday, Palo Alto Networks introduced the large acquisition of CyberArk Software program (Nasdaq: CYBR) for $25 billion.
Speaking to journalists after the acquisition was introduced, Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora and CyberArk founder and chairman Udi Mokady revealed that there by no means was a plan to purchase SentinelOne. Mokady believes that individuals have been making an attempt to grasp who Palo o Networks was about to purchase and thought it was SentinelOne. When Arora was requested if Palo Alto had thought of buying different corporations, he smiled and stated, “Not SentinelOne In my years within the trade, I’ve checked out tons of of corporations of all sizes and styles. CyberArk was our primary alternative. It is the one one which does identification safety on a big scale.”
Arora careworn that he has nice respect and belief within the CyberArk crew, and Mokedy stated comparable good issues about Palo Alto Networks. Mokedy emphasised that one of many vital issues within the query of whether or not to promote to Palo Alto Networks was its connection to Israel. As , it’s a US firm, however its founder is Israel’s Nir Zuk, who serves as CTO, and it has a giant presence in Israel after buying many corporations right here.
Arora says, “We’re one of many largest cybersecurity employers in Israel. This proves that we all know find out how to work nicely with groups in Israel, and nice merchandise have come out of it within the firm. I see no cause why we should not proceed this with CyberArk workers. I even talked to Udi about making extra investments in Israel – the Israelis are superb in cybersecurity.”
Mokady added, “Nikesh requested me: ‘Are you able to rent extra workers in Israel? We’re working out of area in Israel. We’d like extra buildings.'”
Throughout the press convention, Mokady was requested why CyberArk was really being acquired, and stated that “we weren’t on the market. We see ourselves because the leaders within the discipline, and Palo Alto is a pacesetter in lots of areas in cybersecurity. We noticed a brilliant future forward of us, however a discipline that’s at an inflection level requires scale and requires working sooner, and there’s no comparability between what we are able to do alone and what we are able to do with Palo Alto. We might have achieved the chance on our personal, however extra slowly.” He added a picture: “We have seen that we are able to cross the ocean with our boat, or go huge with the plane service. CyberArk as Palo Alto’s identification safety platform is a powerhouse. The mixture is win-win for everybody: shareholders, workers, prospects.”
Arora stated that the negotiations lasted 3-4 months. When requested how concerned Nir Zuk was within the deal, he replied: “After all. He is accountable for the product technique and he was very enthusiastic. So enthusiastic that I used to be even just a little scared,” he laughed.
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The deal is usually in shares ($45 in money and a pair of,005 Palo Alto shares for every CyberArk share, for a complete of $25 billion, though the quantity will nonetheless change primarily based on adjustments in Palo Alto’s share worth till closing). In accordance with Arora, “no board of administrators would conform to a deal that was 90% fairness in the event that they did not imagine within the firm and the mixing.” Mokady agreed that it was an expression of confidence in Palo Alto.
There was no discuss of Mokady and CyberArk CEO Matt Cohen’s future after the deal is accomplished, however Arora famous that “Udi and Matt by no means requested about themselves, solely about the way forward for the workers, the merchandise and the shoppers.”
Arora was requested whether or not such a big acquisition was not a panic transfer, because of fears of competitors, for instance, from CrowdStrike. However in response to him, the reply is not any. “Corporations like Salesforce and SAP have ‘platformized’ the HR discipline. Why should not this philosophy even be mirrored in cybersecurity? We imagine that with AI, the world is altering. Brokers will grow to be extra standard, they’re unsupervised and we’d like somebody like CyberArk, who will monitor them in actual time. I can not wait 3-4 years and construct a product. So the panic is from AI, not CrowdStrike. I wish to be sooner and get to market as quickly as attainable.”
Lastly, Arora was requested whether or not he anticipated a problem from regulators in approving the deal, and right here too his reply was unfavourable. “I am not a regulatory knowledgeable, however from our understanding, there should not be a problem as a result of there isn’t any overlap between the businesses,” he defined. “I all the time take into consideration offers, even once I sleep, however I am additionally disciplined and see if it is sensible. I’ve purchased 24 corporations over time, however I fantasized about 400. There may be product compatibility between Palo Alto and CyberArk, there may be buyer demand and they’re completely satisfied concerning the deal, and we imagine there will likely be acceleration within the discipline. Each corporations have been on a wonderful monitor, and we hope that collectively we will likely be on an excellent higher monitor.”
Printed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on July 31, 2025.
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