Slack’s Stock Soars on Potential Salesforce Takeover
Slack’s share price surged nearly 25% today following reports that Salesforce is in talks to acquire the workplace collaboration platform. According to Yahoo Finance data, Slack’s stock reached $36.95 per share, pushing its market valuation to approximately $20.8 billion. The news marks a significant rebound for Slack, which traded as low as $15.10 in the past year.
Market Reactions: A Tale of Two Stocks
While Slack investors celebrated, Salesforce shares dipped ~3.5%, reflecting investor skepticism about the deal’s strategic fit or potential cost. The acquisition would be Salesforce’s largest since its $750 million purchase of Quip in 2016 and could reshape the enterprise software landscape.
Why Salesforce Wants Slack: Strategic Synergies
Salesforce, the CRM leader with ambitions to expand its platform dominance, sees Slack as a key growth accelerator:
- Cross-Selling Opportunities: Combining Slack’s startup-heavy user base with Salesforce’s enterprise clients.
- Workflow Integration: Slack’s automation tools could deepen connectivity across Salesforce’s sales, marketing, and service clouds.
- Competitive Edge: A direct counter to Microsoft Teams, which has aggressively challenged Slack’s market share.
“Slack would give Salesforce ‘stickier’ revenue streams and strengthen its work.com platform,” notes Holger Mueller, Constellation Research analyst. “It’s also a strategic move against Microsoft.”
The Microsoft Factor
Microsoft Teams’ rapid growth—reporting 115 million daily users—has pressured Slack. A Salesforce-backed Slack could:
- Leverage Salesforce’s enterprise sales muscle
- Accelerate product integrations
- Compete more effectively in the collaboration suite wars
Deal Dynamics: Price Remains the Hurdle
With Slack’s pre-news valuation appearing outdated, negotiations will likely focus on securing a substantial premium for shareholders. Analysts suggest the deal could redefine collaboration software’s future—if the numbers align.
TechCrunch has reached out to Salesforce, Slack, and Slack’s CEO for comment. Updates will follow.