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Salesforce Could More Than Double Its Valuation After $27.7 Billion Deal for Slack, Jim Cramer Says

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  • "If you follow the customer, you'll understand why Salesforce.com ... decided to shell out $27.7 billion for Slack Technologies in a deal that was widely criticized," CNBC's Jim Cramer said.
  • The "Mad Money" host said "it's very difficult for [CEO] Marc [Benioff] to go from $200 billion to the $500 billion that I think that company can go, at least not organically."
  • "Marc needs a visible platform, something everyone can see and something everyone can buy," he said.

Salesforce's blockbuster deal for the Slack messaging platform will give the software giant the visibility it needs to increase its valuation by threefold, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Thursday.

"If you follow the customer, you'll understand why Salesforce.com, which built a gigantic business by helping clients harness the power of the cloud, decided to shell out $27.7 billion for Slack Technologies in a deal that was widely criticized," the "Mad Money" host said. "I think it was a brilliant move, though."

Salesforce announced it was purchasing Slack, its largest acquisition to date, after Tuesday's close. The stock is down about 20 points since the deal was publicized.

Salesforce shares closed Thursday's session at $220.97, giving the company a $171.5 billion market cap. The deal will give both companies more leverage to compete with Microsoft — Slack with Microsoft Teams and Salesforce, which sells enterprise customer relationship management software, with Microsoft's software division.

Salesforce, which was added to the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average this summer, peaked at $284.50 in early September, days after it joined the blue-chip index.

Cramer said the tie-up gives Slack financial resources to go head to head with Teams, adding that the company fits in Salesforce's cloud suite.

"Salesforce.com has grown to be a $200 billion Dow Jones colossus under the leadership of Marc Benioff," Cramer said. "But thanks to the law of large numbers … it's very difficult for Marc to go from $200 billion to the $500 billion that I think that company can go, at least not organically."

"Because to most people, Salesforce is invisible," he continued. "Unless you're a data scientist or you work in sales, you don't interact with their software. That's why Marc needs a visible platform, something everyone can see and something everyone can buy."

Disclosure: Cramer's charitable trust owns shares of Salesforce.com.

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