Kon activist peace be present at Salesforce? Of the announcement Monday that Elliott was due to withdraw his nomination to the board of directors, it appears the CRM leader could have forged a peace deal. The question is: at what price?
While it’s not clear what this deal means for the other four activist firms operating within the company, Elliott is likely pleased with the company’s recent changes, including a surprisingly strong quarter coupled with some moves such as shareholder buybacks, dissolution of the M&A group and cost reduction. strategies (which partially translated into laying off 10% of the staff).
But this doesn’t necessarily mean Elliott’s work is done with the company, a person familiar with the deal told businessupdates.org+.
Surprisingly, the terms between the two companies do not include a standstill agreement There wasn’t even an information-sharing agreement or any legal document prohibiting Elliott from speaking badly about the company, talking to the press, or anything like that.
“So Elliott built a lasting relationship. That doesn’t mean it will run away or never come back,” said the person, who asked to remain anonymous as he was not authorized to speak publicly on behalf of the company. “Like I said, with the freedom not to stand still if everything fails in a month or a few months, the company can always come back and say, ‘You know, we’re still looking. We’re still involved, and we think you should do the following to make it better.” Elliott doesn’t want that to happen. But that is a possibility that could happen.”
All of that gives Elliott a lot of leeway to continue to pressure the company if circumstances warrant it. But for now, Salesforce seems to have put the activist company’s mind at rest, and it has disconcerted the activists ahead of the shareholder meeting in June.
