like “Microsoft Excel on steroids,” Baird analyst
Rob Oliver said, referring to the widely used
spreadsheet tool.
“Instead of having just lines of data, you can
press a button and create charts,” he said.
“Tableau’s vision has always been it could be as
ubiquitous as Excel.”
He said Tableau has been the “premier asset” in
the increasingly competitive business intelligence
sector, with a rabid following among data
analysts. Companies that use Tableau’s services
include Charles Schwab, Verizon and Netflix.
Forrester analyst Boris Evelson said it’s become
harder for independent business intelligence
vendors such as Tableau to remain profitable on
their own because the market has matured and
bigger companies such as Microsoft can offer
lower prices as part of a package. He said Tableau
and Salesforce complement each other, and the
deal could be successful if Tableau is able to stay
“laser focused” on its core analytics product.
Salesforce Chairman and co-CEO Marc Benioff
said in a statement that the deal will pair
Tableau’s strengths in helping businesses
understand data with Salesforce’s focus on
helping businesses understand customers.
The acquisition is expected to add about $350
million to $400 million to Salesforce.com Inc.‘s
fiscal 2020 revenue. Each share of Tableau
common stock will be exchanged for 1.103
shares of Salesforce. The deal was approved
by both companies’ boards and is expected to
close by October.
The companies said Tableau will operate as an
independent subsidiary and stay headquartered
in Seattle. Salesforce is based in San Francisco.
Shares of Tableau Software Inc. jumped 34.2% in
afternoon trading. Salesforce’s fell 5%.
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