Salesforce is stuck with its pricey acquisitions

Alteryx

20/03/2023 13:26

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are his own.)
    By Robert Cyran
       NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Pushy
investors persuaded the business software developer to cut back
on M&A, but undoing past deals would be tougher. Offloading $28
bln Slack, $16 bln Tableau or $7 bln MuleSoft looks to be more
trouble than it’s worth. Integrating them is a better, albeit
slower, approach.
    Full view will be published shortly.
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    CONTEXT NEWS 
    Salesforce on March 1 reported a net loss of $98 million on
revenue of $8.4 billion for the quarter ending Jan.31, an
increase of 14% from the same period the previous year.
Co-founder and Chief Executive Marc Benioff said improving
profitability was the company’s top priority. 
    As part of a series of steps taken since activist investors
including ValueAct Capital and Elliott Management acquired
stakes in Salesforce, the company disbanded its M&A board
committee.

 (Editing by Jeffrey Goldfarb and Sharon Lam)
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