Salesforce.Com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) has revealed plans to acquire a marketing startup known as Krux as part of its plans to expand into marketing as well as adtech.
A filing with the SEC reveals that Salesforce will pay roughly $350 in a cash and stock deal. The actual price of the deal has however been estimated to be between $650 million and $750 million based on the value of the stock and the earn-outs.
“Krux is a leading data management platform that unifies, segments and activates audiences to increase engagement with users, prospects and customers. Following the acquisition, Krux will be a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company,”revealed Salesforce in a statement.
The acquisition highlights Salesforce’s plan to divert and focus more on boosting its predictive analysis portfolio. The company believes that acquiring the startup will help in attaining these objectives. The software provided by Krux will be integrated into the cloud services offered by Salesforce making the company’s marketing endeavors more effective. The startup will also join a series of numerous other acquisitions that the company has purchased over the past 12 months.
Salesforce has spent almost $4 billion in the acquisition of companies such as Beyond Core, Quip, and Demand ware. The firm had also planned to acquire LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) but it lost that bid to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Salesforce is also interested in acquiring Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR). Mark Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce hinted during an earnings call that the acquisitions will most likely continue until the end of 2016.
“This M&A window, I talked about that I think on the last call, openly in the press, seems to have opened for the year,” he said. “I think it will probably close, probably at the end of this calendar year. But it’s been incredible time for us to acquire some phenomenal assets,”stated Benioff.
Salesforce stocks closed the latest trading session at $70.52, down by $0.81 or 1.14% compared to the value of the stock during the close of the previous trading session.