There was a time when Microsoft was the one rumored to have an interest in buying Slack, but such is no longer the case. The company in the hot seat right now is Amazon, and if true, both would make an attractive fit.
According to the folks at Bloomberg, Amazon is making moves to acquire Slack, the popular business-related instant messenger company. We understand Slack could be valued at around $9 billion, which shouldn’t be too much for Amazon to handle.
Deal is still in the early stages
For now, nothing is set in stone, which means, a deal could either happen or fall through the cracks.
Still, we expect Amazon to make every effort to grab on to the startup seeing as it needs bolster its business related services to compete with the likes of Microsoft and Google.
Back in February of this year, Amazon announced new services for its Amazon Web Services cloud platform. The main addition is Amazon Chime, a service that delivers audio and video conferencing services designed for the world of business.
Amazon’s acquisition of Twitch
The retail giant isn’t all about selling products from its popular online retail website and cloud services; it’s also about entertainment. When the company announced it had acquired Twitch, it came as a surprise to many around the world, and since then, things have improved for the game streaming platform.
The company bought the platform for $970 million, which is the largest acquisition to-date.
Smart home initiative
The Smart Home market is slowly taking off, and Amazon is at the forefront with its Echo devices powered by Alexa. These products have taken the market by storm, and as such, Google had to answer with Google Home to keep from being left behind.
Not only that, Microsoft is on a similar path with its smart home boxes powered by Cortana. Microsoft’s take on smart home hubs is different because the company is not making its products. Instead, third-party manufacturers will create their own with the Cortana tech built in.
Additionally, every Windows 10 product will have Cortana, and as such, can transform into a smart home hub.
Nearly $50 billion in deals this year
Technology companies in the United States this year have made acquisitions totaling nearly $50 billion. Interestingly enough, this number is down by 40 percent when compared to the same period from back in 2016.
It would seem as if companies are making less big acquisitions and acquiring startups instead.
So far, Slack has raised a whopping $200 million in its latest funding round, which is not too bad for a small startup. Furthermore, we should note that Slack has over 800 employees and seven offices in various parts of the world.
Regarding the user base, Slack has a daily active user number of 5 million, a number that’s very impressive from our point of view. One can now have a broad idea of why Amazon wants the company but confused as to why Microsoft chose to go its way.
