Palo Alto Networks is in talks to acquire the Israeli cybersecurity provider CyberArk Software in what would mark one of the biggest technology takeovers so far this year, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Palo Alto Networks could finalize a deal for CyberArk as soon as later this week, the people said. Assuming a typical deal premium, a deal could value CyberArk well above its roughly $20 billion market value.

Palo Alto Networks has been on an acquisition hunt, vying to build up a bigger company that can handle a client’s full-range of security needs to better fight threats from artificial intelligence. But it has never done a deal as big as CyberArk.

“This is precisely why industry must change the paradigm, shifting away from today’s fragmented security landscape and towards consolidation,” Chief Executive Nikesh Arora said in May.

Shares of CyberArk jumped more than 13% Tuesday following The Wall Street Journal’s report on the pending deal. Palo Alto Networks shares fell 5%, bringing its market value down to just below $130 billion.

Cybersecurity has already produced the biggest deal of 2025, after Google parent Alphabet agreed to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz, also based in Israel, for $32 billion in March.

CyberArk specializes in identity security, specifically what is known as privileged access management. Its systems help protect businesses from cyber threats by helping them secure sensitive information and who can access it. It counts more than 10,000 customers globally, according to its website.

CyberArk was founded in 1999 by Udi Mokady, who took the company public in 2014 and remains executive chairman. Current CEO Matt Cohen has helped push it toward a common software business strategy as a subscription model. 

CyberArk ranks among the biggest public companies in Israel, a region that has also become a cybersecurity powerhouse thanks to government and private investments, and a strong focus on national security. Check Point Software, another cybersecurity company with headquarters in Tel Aviv, has a market value of over $23 billion. 

Big tech companies had been sitting on the sidelines for a while, opting not to pursue big takeovers under the Biden administration’s antitrust regime, which took a harder look at big transactions and especially within the technology sector. 

More are warming up under the Trump administration, which has expressed a greater willingness to find paths for big deals, especially ones aimed at security for U.S. companies and technology. That’s even as some in the administration, including Vice President JD Vance, have been critics of the big tech industry. 

Salesforce in May struck a roughly $8 billion deal for data-management software firm Informatica, which came together after talks between the two fizzled out in 2024.