Salesforce acquires Slack. The cloud service giant acquired the workplace communication platform for a whopping $27.7 billion. Slack witnessed a steep bump in its value on the stock market last week in anticipation of the deal being made official. In early November, the company’s shares were valued as low as $24.10. After market close last Tuesday, shares were up to $43.84.
“Together, Salesforce and Slack will shape the future of enterprise software and transform the way everyone works in the all-digital, work-from-anywhere world. I’m thrilled to welcome Slack to the Salesforce Ohana once the transaction closes,” Stewart Butterfield, CEO of Slack, said in a statement. [Ars Technica]
Ridin’ through Texas. Longtime Silicon Valley giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise is taking its headquarters to the Lone Star State. The company is currently constructing a new campus in Beyoncé’s hometown of Houston. The company will keep its office in San Jose and consolidate several others for its move to H-Town. No layoffs are associated with the company’s consolidation process. [SF Gate]
Uber Eats eats Postmates. After coming to an agreement in July over an acquisition, Uber Eats officially bought Postmates in a $2.65 billion deal announced last week. The deal comes on the heels of California’s passing of Prop 22. In addition to formalizing the Postmates purchase, Uber Eats is planning to hold virtual listening sessions for restaurants and merchants to foster an open dialogue on its policies, pricing and more. [Eater]
Bye, Bye, Bye. As some techies choose to make the move out of the Bay Area to places like Denver, Miami, and Austin, local housing activists are breathing a sigh of relief. Chirag Bhakta, a tenant organizer for affordable housing nonprofit Mission Housing, said the sudden departure of many tech workers and executives reveals that their relationship with the city was “transactional” all along. Although some companies have chosen to cancel leases, others are choosing to expand their offices in San Francisco. Despite local controversy and the predictions of a permanent work-from-home culture, the tech industry’s attachment to the city remains strong. [NBC News]
Sunshine and rainbows and beaches, oh my. Hawaiian tourism officials are launching a new campaign aimed at enticing tech workers choosing to leave the Bay Area as a result of the pandemic. In addition to promising an unparalleled view when working from home, officials are also touting the island’s safety attributes, as the state has the lowest rate per capita of COVID-19 infections in the country. [CBS SF]
Firefighting drones take flight. Drones by Rain Industries intend to help fight wildfires in the Golden State. The Bay Area company is now testing its autonomous aircraft that it says can fly preemptively during potentially hazardous wildfire conditions and use their infrared sensors to locate and combat flames when they first erupt. [SF Gate]
