Picking up the Slack for $27.7B

Cloud-computing giant Salesforce on Tuesday said it will acquire popular workplace messaging platform Slack for $27.7 billion.

The cash-and-stock deal — one of the largest ever for a software company — will see Slack shareholders receive $26.79 in cash and 0.08 shares of Salesforce stock for each share in the company.

It is the biggest acquisition in 21year-old Salesforce’s history. The San Francisco-based company’s stock dipped 3.6 percent in extended trading. Slack shares, which have surged in recent days on reports that the merger was in the works, were little changed.

The deal, which is expected to close in 2022, comes as Slack has struggled to fully capitalize on the switch to remote working during the

COVID-19 pandemic in the face of fierce competition from Microsoft’s Teams and other workplace apps.

It also comes despite claims from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff — who with his wife, Lynne, shelled out $190 million to scoop up Time magazine in 2018 — denying in August that Salesforce was pursuing any acquisitions.

“I think that for a company like Salesforce, we don’t really see an

M&A environment. These are not — we’re not in a moment,” Benioff told analysts during an Aug. 25 earnings call.

“We’re not in a good M&A environment,” Benioff added. “I just don’t see it. Maybe things could change. Of course, things always are changing.”

Shares of Slack rival Microsoft were down 0.2 percent after the acquisition was announced.