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The acquisition, expected to close in 2022, aims to create a ‘powerful new customer intelligence company’.
Customer service SaaS company Zendesk is to acquire Momentive, the parent company of SurveyMonkey, in an all-stock deal worth almost $4bn.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2022, pending approval from shareholders. Upon closing of the transaction, Zendesk stockholders will own approximately 78pc of the combined company and Momentive stockholders will own approximately 22pc.
In a statement, Zendesk said it expects the merger to be “growth accretive in its first full operating year,” accelerating its revenue plan to $3.5bn in 2024.
Zendesk’s founder and CEO, Mikkel Svane, said he hopes that the acquisition will result in the creation of a “powerful new customer intelligence company”.
“The SurveyMonkey brand is iconic and we’ve admired their business from afar since the inception of Zendesk. They truly democratised an industry — almost everyone in the world has responded to one of their surveys at some point,” Svane added.
“We will deliver a rich, colourful picture of every customer so businesses really understand their customers and can build more authentic relationships.”
Momentive CEO Zander Lurie will continue to lead the business following the merger. “We look forward to combining with Zendesk to advance our mission and accelerate our long-term growth strategy,” Lurie said.
“Zendesk pioneered the ability to easily respond to what your customers say and do,” he added in a blog post. “Momentive is a leader in capturing how customers think and feel. Together, we will create what companies really need: a new customer intelligence company that gives businesses the ability to develop a rich and dynamic picture of every customer and the tools to create meaningful customer relationships.”
Momentive was formerly known as SurveyMonkey but rebranded earlier this year. The SurveyMonkey name is still attached to its well-known survey platform, but the company has other products including GetFeedback.
Earlier this month, Momentive CTO Robin Ducot told Siliconrepublic.com that the company has been honing in on machine learning and AI to boost its experience management tools.
Momentive’s platforms are used by more than 20m people, while Zendesk serves 100,000 brands.
Zendesk employs more than 5,000 people worldwide and its workforce will soon be bolstered by Momentive’s 1,500 staff. Both companies have bases in Ireland.
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