EU clearance of Google/Wiz:some reflections

On 10 February 2026, the Commission unconditionally approved Alphabet’s USD 32 billion acquisition of Wiz, a cloud security firm whose multi-cloud platform operates across Google Cloud, AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud. The deal almost did not happen: Wiz rejected an earlier USD 23 billion offer from Google, citing its intention to go public instead. Google returned nine months later with an offer that proved difficult to refuse, suggesting that Wiz’s strategic value to Google is considerable. This post considers two aspects of the clearance: whether the Commission’s Phase I clearance was appropriate in light of the broader context of the acquisition, and the jurisdictional route by which the Commission acquired competence to review the transaction.