Tableau, the data visualization software that has off late become a cult of sorts among data scientists and analysts (even folks outside that circle), has now been bought by Salesforce, in all equity $15.7 Billion deal. Needless to say, this will be one of the biggest acquisitions till date in the SaaS domain.
Tableau Software shares are publicly traded. Salesforce announced that the acquisition will be all-stock transaction which will involve shares of Tableau Class A and Class B common stock getting exchanged for 1.103 shares of Salesforce common stock. On the basis of the average price of Salesforce’s shares as of June 7, 2019, the enterprise value is calculated to be $15.7 billion.
“We are bringing together the world’s #1 CRM with the #1 analytics platform,” said Marc Benioff, Chairman, and co-CEO of Salesforce. “Tableau helps people see and understand data, and Salesforce helps people engage and understand customers. It’s truly the best of both worlds for our customers — bringing together two critical platforms that every customer needs to understand their world.”
Salesforce has been dominant in the Customer Relationship Management domain for years. Tableau, a hugely popular analytics platform and data visualisation specialist has over 86,000 enterprise clients worldwide. Acquisition of the latter will help the former company to diversify into analytics, helping it expand beyond the traditional CRM line.
“With Tableau, Salesforce will play an even greater role in driving digital transformation, enabling companies around the world to tap into data across their entire business and surface deeper insights to make smarter decisions, drive intelligent, connected customer experiences and accelerate innovation,” the company says.
Although being acquired by Salesforce, the company will still conduct its operations independently under brand name Tableau following the deal’s closure. It will also remain headquartered in Seattle, WA, headed by CEO Adam Selipsky. Tableau has 86000 clients including Charles Schwab, Verizon (which owns TC), Schneider Electric, Southwest and Netflix.
“Joining forces with Salesforce will enhance our ability to help people everywhere see and understand data,” said Selipsky. “I’m delighted that our companies share very similar cultures and a relentless focus on customer success. I look forward to working together in support of our customers and communities.”
Analytics and intelligence businesses provide big and lucrative markets. Therefore, it makes sense for big solution provider firms like Salesforce to invest into these markets to provide a competitive edge against other companies. Google, for instance, acquired enterprise intelligence and analytics firm Looker for $2.6 billion last week in a bid to strengthen the tech giant’s smart analytics platform and Google Cloud’s digital transformation business.
Salesforce says that the deal will raise the firm’s revenue by $350 million to $400 million for financial year 2020, increasing the GAAP revenue to between $16.45 billion to $16.65 billion.
The deal has been approved by both the Salesforce and Tableau board of directors. It is believed that the acquisition will close during Salesforces’ third-quarter, ending October 31, 2019 subject to regulatory approval.
