While all signs were pointing to a Salesforce acquisition by Microsoft, it appears as though that deal has fallen through, CNBC reported, citing people said to be familiar with the matter.
While talks began months ago about a potential deal that would have Microsoft taking over the San Fransisco-based global cloud computing company, the two reportedly could not make a deal because of price disagreements. The talks have since ended, though they were said to have progressed deep into the negotiation level, the report indicated.
The sticking point was about how much the company is worth. Microsoft offered as much as $55 billion for Salesforce, according to CNBC’s report, but noted that Salesforce wanted closer to $70 billion.
Recently, Salesforce revealed that it has teamed up with accounting and payroll software vendor Sage, based in the U.K. Salesforce said the Sage partnership is part of its efforts to further expand its cloud computing tools to SMEs in addition to the larger companies it services. Their joint-venture has resulted in the creation of a new tool called Sage Life, which will run on the Salesforce platform.
And just last month, Austin, Texas-based mobile authentication startup Toopher announced it had been acquired by Salesforce. With the acquisition of Toopher, Salesforce added to its technology repository mobile-based two-factor authentication that utilizes location awareness for enhanced security.
As for the Microsoft-Salesforce deal that appears now to be no deal at all, it would have also allowed Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff to maintain a management role at Microsoft, sources indicated. He would have also been able to put his stock stake in Salesforce into Microsoft.
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