On the eve of its first virtual Dreamforce event, Salesforce announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the chat software developer Slack for $27.7 billion. The acquisition — said to be the biggest in Salesforce history — will combine the Salesforce CRM with Slack’s enterprise communications platform to bring users an operating system for “the new way to work,” empowering organizations for growth in an all-digital environment.
“Stewart [Butterfield, Slack CEO and Co-founder] 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 of Salesforce, in a statement. “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.”
Salesforce intends on providing a unified platform that connects employees, customers and partners — and the apps they use every day — in a single platform. According to a release, Slack will become the new interface for Salesforce Customer 360, allowing users to collaborate and take action on customer information within Salesforce, as well as external business apps and systems.
“Salesforce started the cloud revolution, and two decades later, we are still tapping into all the possibilities it offers to transform the way we work,” said Butterfield in a statement. “The opportunity we see together is massive. As software plays a more and more critical role in the performance of every organization, we share a vision of reduced complexity, increased power and flexibility, and ultimately a greater degree of alignment and organizational agility. Personally, I believe this is the most strategic combination in the history of software, and I can’t wait to get going.”
The transaction is slated to close in the second quarter of Salesforce’s fiscal year 2022.
