Investor Group Confirms $10.2 Billion Zendesk Acquisition

A group led by global investment firms Permira and Hellman & Friedman on Friday confirmed their acquisition of Zendesk. It’s a $10.2 billion, all-cash deal.

The Zendesk acquisition will take the company private. Under the terms of the deal, Zendesk shareholders will get $77.50 per share. The offer represents a premium of about 34% over Zendesk’s closing stock price on Thursday.

In addition to Hellman & Friedman and Permira, the investor group includes a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and GIC. The deal should close in the fourth quarter pending customary closing conditions, including Zendesk stockholder approval.

Last month, Zendesk unveiled new customer relationship management (CRM) solutions and a new employee experience offering.

New Chapter for Zendesk

Mikkel Svane is Zendesk’s founder, chairman and CEO. He said the acquisition is the start of a new chapter “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.”

Zendesk’s Mikkel Svane

“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,” he said.

Tarim Wasim is a partner at Hellman & Friedman.

“Over the past 15 years, Zendesk has revolutionized how companies serve their customers and has become a leading platform within the customer experience ecosystem,” he said. “We deeply believe in the company’s growth opportunity as it continues to help businesses across the world delight their customers. We see tremendous value in Zendesk’s platform and ability to grow at scale.”

Accelerating Innovation, Growth

Ryan Lanpher is a partner at Permira.

“We believe Zendesk is uniquely positioned to enable meaningful interactions and deliver compelling business outcomes across any channel,” he said.

“We look forward to partnering with Zendesk’s management team and talented employees to help them accelerate product innovation and achieve their growth ambitions,” said Brian Ruder, Permira’s partner and co-head of technology.

Last month, Permira completed its $5.8 billion acquisition of Mimecast, taking the email security provider private.