Zendesk Inc. will be acquired for an all-cash deal of $10.2bn by an investor group led by global investment firms Permira and Hellman & Friedman LLC.
According to the agreement, Zendesk shareholders shall be paid $77.50 per share they hold, a 34% premium over Zendesk’s closing stock price of on 23 June 2022, the last full trading day before the deal announcement.
“This is the start of a new chapter for Zendesk with partners that are aligned with the strength of our agile products and talented team, and are committed to providing the resources and expertise to continue our growth trajectory,” said Mikkel Svane, founder, chairman and chief executive of Zendesk. “With Hellman & Friedman and Permira’s support, we’ll continue to execute on our long-term strategy with our customers as our top priority, taking full advantage of the opportunity we see to help businesses navigate the ever-changing expectations and demands of their customers.”
“Zendesk has reimagined customer service software and empowers businesses to transform how they communicate with their customers in an increasingly digital world. We believe Zendesk is uniquely positioned to enable meaningful interactions and deliver compelling business outcomes across any channel,” said Ryan Lanpher, Partner at Permira.
“We look forward to partnering with Zendesk’s management team and talented employees to help them accelerate product innovation and achieve their growth ambitions,” added Brian Ruder, Partner and Co-Head of Technology at Permira.
“Over the past 15 years, Zendesk has revolutionized how companies serve their customers and has become a leading platform within the customer experience ecosystem. We deeply believe in the company’s growth opportunity as it continues to help businesses across the world delight their customers,” said Tarim Wasim, Partner at Hellman & Friedman.
“We see tremendous value in Zendesk’s platform and ability to grow at scale,” said Stephen Ensley, a partner at Hellman & Friedman. “Its intuitive yet powerful offering serves over 100,000 companies, ranging from the smallest businesses to the largest enterprises.”
Founded in Copenhagen in 2007, Zendesk is a service-first CRM company that builds software designed to improve customer relationships headquartered in San Francisco. Zendesk had previously turned down a $17 billion acquisition deal in February 2022 on grounds that it undervalued the company.
