Zendesk and software firm Momentive have entered an acquisition deal that will see the former company buy the latter, including its survey platform SurveyMonkey, with hopes it will allow Zendesk customers to "build more meaningful relationships".

Under the terms of the deal, Momentive shareholders will receive 0.225 shares of Zendesk stock for each share of Momentive stock, a ratio which represents an implied value of approximately$28 per outstanding share of Momentive stock based on the 15-day volume weighted average price of Zendesk common stock up to and including 26 October 2021.

Subject to regulatory approval, the deal is anticipated to be finalised in the first half of next year. Once completed, it would result in Zendesk stockholders owning approximately 78% of the combined company and Momentive stockholders will own approximately 22%.

According to Zendesk, the move would help the company achieve its revenue target of$3.5 billion in 2024.  

"The SurveyMonkey brand is iconic and we've admired their business from afar since the inception of Zendesk. They truly democratized an industry -- almost everyone in the world has responded to one of their surveys at some point," Zendesk founder and CEO Mikkel Svane said.

"We're very excited to have them join the Zendesk mission along with Momentive's market research and insights products and together create a powerful new customer intelligence company. We will deliver a rich, colorful picture of every customer so businesses really understand their customers and can build more authentic relationships."

Additionally, Momentive CEO Zander Lurie will continue to lead Momentive's management team following the acquisition.

"We look forward to combining with Zendesk to advance our mission and accelerate our long-term growth strategy," Lurie said.

"This is a testament to the strength of our agile products and talented team ... we are uniquely positioned to make customer intelligence a reality while delivering significant value for our shareholders."

SurveyMonkey rebranded to Momentive in June this year. At the time, the company touted the rebrand would better convey its portfolio of experience management services.

SurveyMonkey was launched in 1999 with a consumer-oriented survey product geared toward the individual user, and its array of freemium consumer services remain a core component of the company's business. 

But over the last several years, the company has turned to its business and enterprise products as a way to move upmarket and generate long-term value for the company.

Eventually, the SurveyMonkey brand became restrictive and failed to communicate the breadth of the company's portfolio, said Momentive president Tom Hale.

"The term SurveyMonkey, we have outgrown it as a company and we have come to realize that we need to tell the world who we are in a different way," said Hale. "What has driven our success is the freemium self-serve survey business, but the last few years has seen us tilting upmarket." 

On Thursday, Zendesk also reported its third quarter results, with revenue reaching$347 million, following a 32% year-over-year increase and GAAP net loss just shy of$39 million.

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