• by Ray Schultz , October 29, 2021

Customer-service platform Zendesk will acquire Momentive, including its SurveyMonkey brand, in an all-stock transaction, the firm announced Thursday. 

Momentive stockholders will receive  0.225 shares of Zendesk stock for each share of Momentive stock they own. Upon closing, Zendesk shareholders will own roughly 78% of the combined company and Momentive stockholders the remaining 22%.

Reports value the deal at around $4 billion.

Zendesk expects the acquisition to accelerate its revenue to $3.5 billion in 2024, one year ahead of its target. Zendesk, launched in 2007 in Denmark, helps businesses take their customer service online. It connects brands with consumers via email, chat, telephony, messaging and social channels.

The transaction is subject to approval by shareholders of the two firms and by regulatory authorities. By Thursday evening, law firm Halper Sadeh was already challenging the deal, asking if it was fair to Zendesk shareholders.

Momentive CEO Zander Lurie will continue to lead Momentive’s strong management team.

SurveyMonkey has “democratized an industry — almost everyone in the world has responded to one of their surveys at some point,” states Mikkel Svane, founder-CEO of Zendesk.

The combined firms will deliver “a rich, colorful picture of every customer,” Svane adds. 

The firms expect to increase Momentive’s enterprise reach. Zendesk will reinvest savings from efficiencies into growth opportunities. 

Also on Thursday, Zendesk announced Q3 revenue of $347 million, a 32% increase YoY.

Started 20 years ago, SurveyMonkey rebranded itself as Momentive in June, reflecting the expansion of its product line, it said.