Salesforce to obtain workplace chat app Slack for $27.7 billion

Salesforce on Tuesday announced that it is obtaining workplace chat app Slack. The acquisition of Slack is being haled as Salesforce’s most significant purchase in the 21st century.

The company is paying $27.7 billion to acquire Slack, as per the decision made by the company.

“Under the terms of the agreement, Slack shareholders will get $26.79 in cash and 0.0776 shares of Salesforce common stock for each Slack share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $27.7 billion based on the closing price of Salesforce’s common stock on November 30, 2020,” the statement by Slack and Salesforce read.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has announced that together the two companies will develop the future of enterprise software. “Stewart and his team have built one of the most beloved platforms in enterprise software history, with an unbelievable ecosystem around it. 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 excited to welcome Slack to the Salesforce Ohana once the transaction closes,” Marc stated.

While Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield understands that the purchase of Slack by Salesforce is the most critical combination in the history of software.

“Salesforce began the cloud revolution, and two decades later, we are yet tapping into all the possibilities it offers to transform the way we work. The opportunity we see together is massive. As software plays a larger and more critical role in the representation of every organization, we share a vision of reduced complexity, increased power and flexibility, and ultimately a higher degree of alignment and organizational agility. I believe this is the most important combination in the history of software, and I can’t wait to get going,” stated Stewart Butterfield, Slack CEO and Co-Founder.

Slack was established as a gaming company in 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. However, Slack soon developed as the widely used workplace messaging app. It remained to face threats not only from Microsoft but also from Facebook, Google, and other companies that came up with their different messaging apps.

Salesforce and Slack intend to give companies a single source of truth for their business and a centralized platform for connecting employees, customers, and partners with each other and the apps they use every day, all within their current workflows.

“Salesforce is the #1 CRM that allows companies to sell, service, market, and conduct commerce, from anywhere. Slack brings people, data, and tools together so teams can collaborate and get work done, from anywhere. Slack Connect extends the benefits of Slack to enable communication and collaboration between a company’s employees and all its outside partners, from vendors to customers. Slack will be deeply integrated into every Salesforce Cloud. As the new interface for Salesforce Customer 360, Slack will transform how people communicate, collaborate, and take action on customer information across Salesforce as well as information from all of their other business apps and systems to be more productive, make smarter, faster decisions, and create associated customer experiences,” the statement issued by the companies read.