Salesforce to buy Vlocity for $1.3 billion

Salesforce reported revenues of $4.85 billion for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2020 (which ended Jan. 31) – marking an increase of 35% YoY. The company also quietly dropped a $1.3 billion acquisition bomb in its earnings release.

Why we care

Salesforce announced its agreement to buy CRM software provider Vlocity for $1.33 billion. Vlocity builds software on top of Salesforce that is customized for verticals such as insurance, media and entertainment and communications. Salesforce said the acquisition of Vlocity will help “open up new industry capabilities built on the Salesforce platform.”

“Our deep expertise in vertical industries enables organizations to digitally transform,” said Vlocity CEO and founder David Schmaier, “while delivering seamless, industry-specific processes and data models across any channel, helping to increase sales, service and marketing agility, operational efficiency, digital adoption and simplicity. ”

The acquisition is expected to close during the second quarter of the Salesforce fiscal year 2021.

More on the news

• Salesforce reported annual revenues of $17.1 billion, up 29% year-over-year.
• The Marketing Cloud and Commerce segment grew 32% year-over-year to $2.51 billion.
• Co-CEO Keith Block will be stepping down, while founder and CEO Marc Benioff will continue to serve as the company’s sole CEO.
• Gavin Patterson will serve as the new president and CEO of Salesforce International.

About The Author

Jennifer Cannon

Jennifer Videtta Cannon serves as Third Door Media's Senior Editor, covering topics from email marketing and analytics to CRM and project management. With over a decade of organizational digital marketing experience, she has overseen digital marketing operations for NHL franchises and held roles at tech companies including Salesforce, advising enterprise marketers on maximizing their martech capabilities. Jennifer formerly organized the Inbound Marketing Summit and holds a certificate in Digital Marketing Analytics from MIT Sloan School of Management.