Following rumours of a potential acquisition, the news has come, the deal is done. Salesforce has acquired Slack for an impressive $27.7 Billion.
This marks Salesforce’s biggest acquisition in its 21-year history, and one of the largest for the software industry as a whole. Prior to Slack, Salesforce’s largest deal was the $15.3 billion buy of Tableau last year.
The Slack deal has been a combination of both cash and stock as Salesforce purchased Slack for a $26.79 share and .0776 shares of Salesforce, according to The Financial Times.
Combining Slack and Salesforce has the potential to create the operating system for the new way to work connecting employees, customers and partners with each other and the apps they use every day, all within their existing workflows.
The deal also, of course, intensifies the competition between long-time rivals, Salesforce and Microsoft, whose work place messaging app, Microsoft Teams has stepped up to be a big competitor for Slack during the pandemic as it serves as a cheaper alternative for businesses.
The big question remains for Slack users, will Salesforce pull the plug on free memberships or will they turn to support the communities?
"Stewart and his team have built one of the most beloved platforms in enterprise software history, with an incredible ecosystem around it,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO, Salesforce.
“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.”
It will be interesting to see what plays out in the next few months and what changes come in Slack’s offering.