In its biggest acquisition to date, CRM platform Salesforce has acquired data analytics platform Tableau for US$15.7 billion in stocks.

The two parties entered into a definitive agreement in which Salesforce will acquire Tableau in an all-stock transaction, valued at US$15.7 billion (AU$22.6 billion).

For Salesforce, the acquisition means being able to offer users the ability to understand both their customers and their data. “It’s truly the best of both worlds for our customers,” says Salesforce chairman and co-CEO Marc Benioff.

A Tableau press release outlines the plan to integrate with Einstein, Salesforce’s AI capability. “With Tableau and Einstein together, Salesforce will deliver the most intelligent and intuitive analytics and visualisation platform for every department and every user at every company.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by 31 October and has been approved by the boards of directors at both companies. Tableau will continue to operate under the Tableau brand and will remain headquartered in Seattle under existing CEO Adam Selipsky.

“This deal is a customer experience play,” says Allen Bonde, VP and research director at Forrester, “in a way, an answer to SAP’s purchase of Qualtrics.”

“While a leader in many waves, Salesforce has been weaker when it comes to customer analytics versus peers”, Bonde says, “this additional will help on that front. Tableau has a great front-end experience and is a master of self-service apps that appeal to the masses. That said, a lot of Tableau customers are on-premises, so they will need to rationalise the cloud strategy for the combined company.”

The acquisition is expected to increase Salesforce’s total revenue for the 2020 financial year by up to US$400 million. Last year, Salesforce acquired Datorama for US$800 million and MuleSoft for $6.5 billion, its second biggest acquisition to date.

Further reading

• Amazon confirmed its Sizmek acquisition in early May »

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