Wednesday 23 November 2022

An investor group led by US private equity firm Hellman & Friedman and investment firm Permira has closed the acquisition of US-based customer support, sales, and other customer communications software-as-a-service products provider Zendesk, Inc in an all-cash transaction that values the company at approximately USD 10.2bn, the company said.

The acquisition was previously announced on June 24, 2022 and approved by Zendesk stockholders at the Special Meeting of Stockholders held on September 19, 2022.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Zendesk shareholders will receive USD 77.50 per share in cash.

In connection with the completion of the transaction, Zendesk common stock ceased trading and will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

Zendesk will operate as a privately held company and will remain headquartered in San Francisco.

Qatalyst Partners and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial advisors to Zendesk in connection with the transaction. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as Zendesk's legal advisor.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as financial advisor to the investor group. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP served as M&A counsel to the investor group and to Permira.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as financing counsel to the investor group. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as counsel to Hellman & Friedman.

Zendesk was conceived in Copenhagen, Denmark, built and grown in California, and currently employs more than 6,000 people across the world.

Hellman & Friedman is a global private equity firm with a distinctive investment approach focused on a limited number of large-scale equity investments in high quality growth businesses.

Permira is a global investment firm that backs successful businesses with growth ambitions. Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds with total assets under management of USD75bn+ and makes long-term majority and minority investments across two core asset classes, private equity and credit.