Zendesk confirms cut-price $10.2B buyout

From ComputerWorld: Customer service software company Zendesk has announced it will be acquired for $10.2 billion by a group of investors led by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman and investment company Permira, as well as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and GIC, a sovereign wealth fund from Singapore.

The acquisition caps a tumultuous year for the California-based company and comes just two weeks after announcing that it would remain a “public, independent company.”

In February this year, Zendesk’s board of directors rejected an acquisition proposal of $17 billion from a consortium of private equity firms, saying that it “significantly undervalues” the company.

The final offer accepted by the Zendesk board this week was $77.50 per share, which represents a premium on the $54.53 the company was trading at earlier in the month, but which is still considerably less than $127-$132 per share offer that the board rejected in February.

Two weeks later, Zendesk announced it was also terminating its proposed $4.1 billion takeover of Momentive, the owners of SurveyMonkey, after stockholders rejected the deal.

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