September 20, 2022
After persistent pressure from Jana Partners and a previous agreement in June, award-winning customer service software provider Zendesk and its shareholders approved a $10.2 billion takeover offer from a group of private equity firms led by Hellman & Friedman and Permira.
The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, would pay investors $77.50 per share in cash.
Zendesk’s proxy firm, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), backed the deal and warned that if Zendesk shareholders did not agree, there would be a significant risk involved. Meanwhile, Light Street Capital Management, which manages funds that own more than 2% of Zendesk, stated in August that it would vote against the merger, stressing the importance of Zendesk remaining a standalone public company and finding a new CEO for the San Francisco firm founded in 2007.
Zendesk, a consortium of more than 200,000 customers, had previously said macroeconomic conditions and business dynamics had deteriorated further since its decision to go private in June.
Although, a strategic review of the business, was done in the same June, and the company said it would remain independent and not be sold, what is happening now is a complete opposite of Zendesk’s previous statement.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
