After the initial rounds of rumours on the internet, Salesforce finally confirmed its acquisition of Slack, the widely used communication platform. The CRM giant acquired the latter in a €22.87B megadeal. Under the deal, Slack will have a great degree of independence to keep operating as it does but its services will be deeply integrated with the Salesforce Cloud. Here are 5 key things you need to know about the megadeal.
1# Slack acquired for €22.87B by Salesforce
The first key thing to note is the deal amount, which is a whopping €22.87B. Under the terms of the agreement, Slack shareholders are slated to receive €22.12 in cash and 0.0776 shares of Salesforce common stock for each Slack share. The transaction is expected to close by the second quarter of Salesforce’s fiscal year in 2022, subject to approval by the communication company’s stockholders, the receipt of required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Stewart Butterfield, Slack CEO and co-founder says, “As software plays a more and more critical role in the performance of every organisation, we share a vision of reduced complexity, increased power and flexibility, and ultimately a greater degree of alignment and organisational agility. Personally, I believe this is the most strategic combination in the history of software, and I can’t wait to get going.”
2# Salesforce to deeply integrate Slack
Salesforce has made it clear that it plans to deeply integrate Slack within its Cloud ecosystem. As per the company’s press release, Slack will serve as the new interface for Salesforce Customer 360, which is a tool that combines various platforms into one, for connecting with a customer.
Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO, Salesforce notes, “This is a match made in heaven. Together, Salesforce and Slack will shape the future of enterprise software and transform the way everyone works in the all-digital, work-from-anywhere world. I’m thrilled to welcome Slack to the Salesforce Ohana once the transaction closes.”
3# Slack to expand its footprint stay independent
Under the deal, Slack will also get to expand in the enterprise space, where it already serves some notable clients. Once the acquisition transaction closes, Slack will become an operating unit of Salesforce and will continue to be led by CEO Stewart Butterfield. This move should enable the company to retain its independence while working for Salesforce.
#4 Initially, Slack wanted to buy Quip from Salesforce
Believe it or not, Slack initially wanted to buy Quip from Salesforce, which the CRM giant acquired back in 2016 for €618M.“I actually talked to Bret in the early days of the pandemic to see if they wanted to sell us Quip because I thought it would be good for us, and I didn’t really know what their plans were [for it]. He said he’d get back to me, and then got back to me six months later or so,” Butterfield tells TechCrunch. When Bret got back to Butterfield, the conversation flipped from Slack buying Quip to Slack being acquired by Salesforce.
#5 Competing with Microsoft?
Both Salesforce and Slack have a history with the software giant Microsoft. While neither of the two has made a statement that the deal was made to up the ante, it definitely strengthens their standing against their common competitor. While Butterfield sees the competition, he denied to TC that the deal was made for getting his company in a better position to compete with his rival.
