Salesforce chief Marc Benioff could never be accused of underpaying for a company, as his proposed $27.7 billion cash-and-stock purchase of Slack demonstrates. Salesforce’s price for the enterprise messaging firm is more than a 50% premium over where Slack’s stock was trading before news of the deal broke. The idea that someone else might jump in with a competing bid now seems far-fetched.
Another way of thinking about the premium: The $26.79 a share cash portion of Salesforce’s offer is where Slack was trading at two weeks ago. Salesforce is offering another $18-$19 a share in its own stock, which is effectively a sweetener to win over Slack shareholders. (The value of that will fluctuate with Salesforce shares, which have dropped in recent days as investors registered their displeasure with the deal.)
