A big cybersecurity deal that fired up investors earlier this week is now official.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) on Wednesday said it would acquire CyberArk (CYBR) in a cash-and-stock deal that values the latter company at about $25 billion. The deal has Palo Alto paying $45 in cash, as well as 2.2005 shares of its stock, for each CyberArk share; that comes out to about a 9% premium to CyberArk's Tuesday's close. (Visible Alpha data puts CyberArk's market value at a bit under $22 billion.)

Palo Alto said it expects the deal to close in the second half of its next fiscal year, which starts in August. It's projected to improve gross margins immediately and to lift free cash flow per share in fiscal 2028.

Shares of CyberArk were recently down less than 1%, while Palo Alto's were off nearly 7%. While the move in CyberArk may seem unusual for a company set to be purchased, it reflects in part a jump already seen this week when reports that a deal was in the works hit investors' screens. The shares closed yesterday about 15% above where they ended Friday.

"Our market entry strategy has always been to enter categories at their inflection point, and we believe that moment for Identity Security is now," Palo Alto CEO Nikesh Arora said in a statement. ("Identity Security" is broadly the field of managing access to digital tools, services and platforms and defending against threats.)

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