Merger & acquisition (M&A) activity rebounded sharply in 2025, with two mega-deals dominating the cybersecurity industry. Although the business uncertainty, trade friction and geopolitical tension that characterized 2024 showed no signs of abating, corporate dealmakers were keener this year to open their checkbooks.
A Bumper Year the Cybersecurity Market
According to Merritt Maxim, research director for security and risk at Forrester, M&A levels in 2025 will surpass those of the year prior by more than 10% and come close to exceeding the record set in 2021, of around $75bn. That’s mainly thanks to the Google acquisition of Wiz Security and Palo Alto Networks’ purchase of CyberArk – two of the biggest ever recorded.
“These large deals underscore a clear trend: buyers want integrated outcomes, not point solutions. Enterprises are prioritizing simplicity, automation, and AI governance, and M&A is the fastest route to deliver those outcomes. This, plus continued macroeconomic conditions making the IPO exit route more challenging, is driving investor interest in cybersecurity M&A,” Maxim told Infosecurity.
“Identity security has emerged as the control plane for AI, driving acquisitions that fuse privileged identity, workforce identity and ITDR capabilities to manage human and machine identities. Those vendors with high-growth platforms still command double-digit revenue multiple valuations,” he added.
Joe Turner, global director of research at CONTEXT, said acquisition volume stabilized compared to 2024, but size shifted significantly.
"We saw a distinct pivot away from acquiring high-growth startups toward strategic consolidation and private equity taking companies private,” he told Infosecurity. “Effectively, the market moved from 'buying growth' in prior years to 'buying cash flow' and platform density in 2025.”
The main market driver for M&A was a growing CISO mandate to reduce vendor sprawl. “Acquirers prioritized targets that filled specific portfolio gaps, like DLP or identity, to prevent customers from churning to broader platforms,” he continues. “We also saw a move away from best in breed to multi-purpose.”
The past year has been one of execution, Turner added. “Cash-rich strategics and private equity firms capitalized on corrected multipliers to acquire distressed but viable technology, particularly in the cloud security space.”
Why Cybersecurity M&A Will Dominate in 2026
Cybersecurity M&A activity is likely to continue at elevated levels in 2026, if only because investor appetite for IPOs remains mixed. That makes acquisition the preferred exit strategy for small and medium-sized firms, said Forrester’s Maxim.
“With more than 5000 cybersecurity firms worldwide, there are ample opportunities for vendors looking to expand their offerings via M&A. High priority areas for 2026 will include solutions that secure GenAI as well as OT security,” he added.
“The amount of un-invested venture capital and private equity will also drive continued investments in emerging cybersecurity firms.”
CONTEXT’s Turner believes M&A activity will grow even further, as the market shifts from “capability M&A” to “sovereign M&A.” Regulatory mandates and AI innovation will drive this evolution.
“With the EU’s NIS2 and Cyber Resilience Act in full force, US-based vendors will likely acquire European-native firms specifically to gain compliant, local hosting and support structures that meet EU sovereignty requirements,” Turner argued.
“As the AI hype settles, the focus will turn to trust. Expect acquisitions to target startups focused on 'data lineage' and 'model integrity' – securing the accuracy of data rather than just access to it."
The Top Five Biggest Cyber Deals of the 2025
Several deals were finalized in 2025, including HPE’s $14bn acquisition of Juniper Networks, IBM’s $6.4bn move for HashiCorp, and Thomas Bravo’s purchase of Darktrace for $5.3bn. However, these were all announced last year. As for deals announced in the past 12 months, the biggest in order of spend were:
Google Buys Wiz for $32bn in Cloud Security Expansion
Google announced its purchase of Israeli startup Wiz Security in an all-cash transaction in March. The firm provides customers with crucial visibility into their multi-cloud environments, scanning virtual machines, containers, and serverless functions and more to highlight unpatched systems and predict attack paths. This kind of proactive security approach will complement Google Cloud’s existing portfolio of threat intelligence, incident response and SecOps offerings.
Palo Alto Networks Set for $25bn CyberArk Acquisition
In July, Palo Alto Networks announced a definitive agreement to purchase identity and access management specialist CyberArk. The deal will help Palo Alto offer privileged access management (PAM) capabilities to customers looking to advance their Zero Trust projects. It also gives the firm a compelling story to tell businesses concerned about the security risks associated with AI agents and their machine identities.
SolarWinds' Picked Up by Turn/River Capital for $4.4bn
Troubled SolarWinds will go private after its planned multibillion-dollar acquisition by San Francisco-based investment fund Turn/River Capital. The software specialist was impressed with SolarWinds recurring revenue model and leadership in the IT observability and management space. For SolarWinds, it’s an opportunity to put the controversies surrounding its 2020 breach by Russian state hackers, and subsequent SEC claim that the firm misled investors. An injection of private equity (PE) cash should also help the firm accelerate innovation in AI and automation.
Francisco Partners acquires Jamf for $2.2bn
In another private equity purchase, Francisco Partners bought mobile device management (MDM) firm Jamf in a multibillion-dollar deal announced in October. Once again, the acquisition is being positioned as a great way for Jamf to expand its product offerings, scale through innovation and grow through M&A. The firm is a leader in managing Apple devices for business customers – a market set to grow as more organizations look to adopt Zero Trust and lock down risk for their remote workers.
Veeam Buys AI & Data Security Firm Securiti AI for $1.7bn
Data backup giant Veeam announced a deal to expand its presence in the cybersecurity space back in October. Securiti AI is a data security posture management (DSPM), privacy and AI governance provider that will help Veeam offer a more comprehensive set of capabilities from a unified platform. By enabling customers to secure, backup and apply governance to their data across its full lifecycle, the firm will have a powerful story to tell, Securiti AI’s technology will also enhance its ransomware recovery offering.
Honorable Mention: Mitsubishi Electric Announces $1bn OT Security Deal
Although it didn’t quite make it into our top five deals, it’s worth pointing out that Mitsubishi Electric’s $1bn move for Nozomi Networks is the largest OT acquisition ever seen. It’s a smart move from the Japanese electronics maker, given the firm’s industrial expertise. It is precisely environments that Mitsubishi kit helps to power that Nozomi helps to protect. It will have a powerful proposition for securing critical infrastructure (CNI) and IoT systems as threat actors look for new ways to disrupt CNI for profit and geopolitical motives.
Conclusion
AI, OT and identity will all remain popular areas for M&A activity in 2026. Such is the demand for solutions to manage the growing AI attack surface, mitigate threats to industrial infrastructure, and help support zero trust approaches. But perhaps just as important are the macroeconomic conditions the industry will face in the coming year. If high interest rates market volatility and investor preference for profitability continue, M&A lawyers will benefit while their peers who handle IPOs could struggle.