Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) To Acquire Slack Technologies (NYSE:WORK) For $27.7 Billion

Customer relation management company Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is wading into enterprise social with a $27.7 billion acquisition of Slack Technologies (NYSE:WORK), a cash plus stock deal. The transaction reflects how cloud computing companies are racing to enhance their operations following the pandemic-induced remote working surge.

Salesforce makes its biggest-ever acquisition

The transaction will be the biggest deal in the company’s history, turning it into a broad-reaching tech tool giant in the business sector. The deal is almost double Salesforce’s biggest acquisition to date. It will make the company a challenging competitor to Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the cloud segment.

Marc Benioff, the company’s CEO and Co-founder, said that the transaction is a heaven-made match. He added that Slack and Salesforce’s combination would define the future of enterprise social and revolutionize how people work in the digital age where remote working has become a norm. Also, the business combination brings together two high profile CEOs in the tech sector.

Slack’s co-founder and CEO, Stewart Butterfield, has been championing the need to revamp technology used by companies. Slack, which grew from a gaming company, has positioned itself as an alternative to office email. Butterfield said that with software playing a vital role in organizational performance, the companies share a vision of enhanced power, flexibility, and reduced complexity, as well as excellent alignment degree and agility in operations. He said that the transaction would be the most strategic in the history of software.

Betting on pandemic-induced remote working boom

The planned acquisition is an indication that companies are betting on workplace changes brought by the pandemic. Bret Taylor, Salesforce’s operating chief, said that we are in a world where things have changed considerably. He said that Slack is an engagement platform for every partner, employee, and customer interaction.

However, the transaction is subject to regulatory and Slack shareholder approval. It will underpin Salesforce’s strategy of moving from its core product to offering software tools required by the business to daily operations.