Zendesk rejects $16 bln offer from private equity consortium (updated)

Momentive Global

10/02/2022 22:47

(New throughout, adds comment from company)
    Feb 10 (Reuters) - Zendesk Inc  ZEN.N , the software company
under activist shareholder pressure to abandon its $3.9 billion
all-stock acquisition of the parent of online survey portal
SurveyMonkey, said on Thursday it had rejected an acquisition
offer from a consortium of private equity firms for as much $16
billion.
    The offer from the private equity firms, which Zendesk did
not identify, was in the range of $127 to $132 per share in
cash, the San Francisco-based company said. Zendesk shares
jumped 10.7% on Thursday to close at $114.18.
    Zendesk said its board concluded that the non-binding
proposal, which does not require it to abandon the SurveyMonkey
deal, significantly undervalued it.
    The company is facing calls from activist investors,
including hedge fund Jana Partners LLC, to abandon its proposed
acquisition of SurveyMonkey parent Momentive Global Inc
 MNTV.O , which it agreed in October.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2TT42B 
    Jana has called Zendesk's plan to buy Momentive a "reactive
and impulsive decision".
    Zendesk shareholders are scheduled to vote on the Momentive
deal on Feb. 25. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday
that Jana was preparing to nominate four directors to the
company's board and that Thoma Bravo had made a takeover
approach to Zendesk.  
    Thoma Bravo is one of the private equity firms that has
expressed interest in Zendesk but is not part of the private
equity consortium that made the offer the company rejected, a
person familiar wirh the matter said. Thoma Bravo and Jana
declined to comment.

 (Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru, Greg Roumeliotis in New
York and Svea Herbst in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio)
 ((Eva.Mathews@thomsonreuters.com;))