ServiceNow agrees to buy cyber startup Armis for US$7.75 billion

[NEW YORK] ServiceNow has reached a deal to buy the cybersecurity startup Armis in a deal valued at US$7.75 billion, representing its largest acquisition to date.

The Santa Clara, California-based enterprise tech company will pay in cash for San Francisco-based Armis, indicated a statement that confirmed an earlier report.

Shares in ServiceNow closed up around 0.9 per cent in New York trading on Monday (Dec 22), giving the company a market value of about US$163 billion.

ServiceNow said that it expects to fund the transaction through a combination of cash on hand and debt. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2026, pending regulatory approvals and closing conditions, the statement said. 

Founded by veterans of Israeli military cyber intelligence, 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 earlier, 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.

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

“ServiceNow is building the security platform of tomorrow,” Amit Zavery, ServiceNow’s president, chief operating officer and chief product officer, said on Tuesday.

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“Together with Armis, we will deliver an industry-defining strategic cybersecurity shield for real-time, end-to-end proactive protection across all technology estates,” he said.

The deal for Armis follows a slew of acquisitions in the cybersecurity sector, a trend fuelled by the growing use of AI to detect hacking threats.

In March, Google parent Alphabet agreed to acquire cloud security firm Wiz for US$32 billion in cash. In July, Palo Alto Networks agreed to buy 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