Salesforce Agrees to Acquire Own Company in Definitive Agreement

On September 5, 2024, Salesforce, the world’s leading AI CRM provider, announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Own Company, a top provider of data protection and data management solutions. Own empowers organizations to ensure the availability, security, and compliance of mission-critical data while enabling deeper insights from this data. Under the terms of the agreement, Salesforce will acquire Own for approximately $1.9 billion in cash, net of the value of the approximately 10% of outstanding shares currently owned by Salesforce, subject to customary purchase price adjustments.

“Data security has never been more critical, and Own’s proven expertise and products will enhance our ability to provide robust data protection and management solutions to our customers,” said Steve Fisher, President and GM of the Einstein 1 Platform and Unified Data Services. “This proposed transaction highlights our commitment to delivering secure, end-to-end solutions that protect our customers’ most valuable data and navigate the evolving landscape of data security and compliance.

“We’re excited to join forces with Salesforce, a company that shares our commitment to data resilience and security,” said Sam Gutmann, CEO of Own. “As digital transformation accelerates, our mission has expanded from preventing data loss in the cloud to helping customers protect their data, unlock business insights, and drive AI-driven innovation. Together with Salesforce, we’ll deliver even greater value to our customers by fostering innovation, securing data, and ensuring compliance in the world’s most complex and highly regulated industries.”

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As a Salesforce AppExchange partner since 2012 and a Salesforce Ventures portfolio company, Own has evolved beyond its initial backup and recovery offerings and is now trusted by nearly 7,000 customers to safeguard mission-critical data. The Own Data Platform provides data archiving, seeding, security, and analytics capabilities, helping customers ensure the availability, compliance, and security of their mission-critical SaaS data. Own also helps organizations leverage historical data to optimize decision-making and gain a competitive advantage.

Addressing a Growing Need for Data Security

The acquisition comes as customers increasingly focus on mitigating data loss due to system failures, human error, and cyberattacks. The rise of AI has heightened awareness of the need to protect and manage access to data. By investing more deeply in pure cloud-native data protection solutions, Salesforce aims to accelerate the growth of its Platform Data Security, Privacy, and Compliance products.

Own’s capabilities will complement Salesforce’s existing offerings, such as Salesforce Backup, Shield, and Data Mask. This will allow Salesforce to provide a more comprehensive suite of data protection and loss prevention products, further reinforcing its commitment to secure, end-to-end solutions. These solutions are vital for protecting customers’ most valuable assets—their data—and for maximizing the value derived from their historical data through AI-driven insights into trends and future growth.

Transaction Details

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Salesforce’s fiscal year 2025, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. Based on the anticipated timing of the transaction’s closure, Salesforce’s fiscal year 2025 financial guidance, previously announced on August 28, 2024, remains unchanged. The transaction will not impact Salesforce’s capital return program. Salesforce expects to achieve accretion on a free cash flow basis starting in the second year following the transaction’s close and continuing thereafter.