Software giant Salesforce (CRM) officially closed on its $27.7 billion record acquisition of messaging app Slack Technologies (WORK) on Wednesday, as the company bets big on a digital work-from-anywhere future.
“Together we’ll define the future of enterprise software, creating the digital HQ that enables every organization to deliver customer and employee success from anywhere,” Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said in a statement.
Slack’s co-founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield, who will continue to lead the company, called the deal “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink and reshape how and where we work.”
“Salesforce and Slack are uniquely positioned to lead this historic shift to a digital-first world. I could not be more excited for what’s to come,” Butterfield added.
In December, Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire the popular messaging software platform Slack Technologies in a cash and stock deal worth $27.7 billion, making it Salesforce’s largest-ever acquisition. Last week, the Department of Justice told the company it closed its antitrust investigation of the deal, giving the green light for the transaction’s close.
As companies debate the future of work post-COVID, Salesforce said companies learned last year that “if you don’t have a digital way to connect with your employees, customers, and partners, you don’t have much of a chance of surviving.”
“Headquarters are no longer on Madison Avenue or Main Street—they are in the cloud. Every business—in every industry—has to optimize for a digital-first customer, employee, and partner experience,” the company said in its announcement.
Shares of Salesforce were last trading up 0.14%, or 34 cents, near $240.45 in the pre-market. Shares of Salesforce are up 7.9% year-to-date.
Julia La Roche is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.
