ServiceNow nears up to US7 billion deal for cybersecurity startup Armis

[NEW YORK] ServiceNow is in advanced talks to buy the cybersecurity startup Armis in a deal that may be valued at as much as US$7 billion and would represent the tech company’s largest acquisition to date.

A deal may be announced in the coming days, according to people familiar with the situation, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. While discussions are advanced, they may still fall apart or another potential bidder may emerge, the people said.

A spokesperson for ServiceNow declined to comment. A representative for Armis did not immediately provide comment.

Shares in ServiceNow closed down around 0.3 per cent in New York trading on Friday (Dec 12), giving the Santa Clara, California-based company a market value of about US$179.5 billion.

Founded by veterans of Israeli military cyber intelligence, San Francisco-based Armis specialises in identifying and tracking security threats on devices, working across a range of industries, including medical, financial services and defence.

In early August, Armis’ chief executive officer, Yevgeny Dibrov, said the company had reached US$300 million in annual recurring revenue, up from US$200 million a year ago, and that it was still eyeing a public listing in 2026.

ServiceNow, which provides software that helps companies organise and automate their personnel and information technology operations, has become a dominant platform for enterprise workflow.

The company and other leading technology platforms, such as Salesforce and Microsoft, have been competing to weave generative artificial intelligence features throughout their products.

In March, ServiceNow struck an agreement to buy the AI firm Moveworks for US$2.85 billion as part of its push into AI tools that can complete tasks without human supervision.

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A deal for Armis would see ServiceNow follow several peers that have been aggressively embedding cybersecurity products into their own offerings.

Google parent Alphabet in March agreed to acquire cloud security firm Wiz for US$32 billion in cash. In July, Palo Alto Networks announced its purchase of CyberArk Software in a deal valuing the Israeli company at about US$25 billion.

Insight Partners agreed to acquire Armis in 2020 in a US$1.1 billion deal that included other investors, such as Alphabet’s CapitalG.

Private equity giant Thoma Bravo had previously eyed a potential deal with Armis, and the startup’s executives said in September that they had been weighing around six to seven offers from investors for a stake in the company. BLOOMBERG