Zendesk, a San Francisco-based customer service software company, plans to remain acquisitive, said Ben Barclay, SVP of strategy, corporate development and transformation.

The company, which generates almost USD 2bn in revenue, is exploring several active [acquisition] mandates, Barclay said on the sidelines of the Latitude59 technology conference held in Estonia on 23 May. “For a deal to happen it needs a willing buyside and a willing sellside. When we feel we have this, and the time is right we can move quickly,” he said.

Zendesk mainly seeks targets in the customer and employee services space, with plans to use its platform to distribute their solutions and grow its own addressable market, Barclay said.

While targets’ revenue, number of employees and valuation metrics are important, these are not guiding filters for Zendesk, whose previous transactions ranged from low double-digit million to hundreds of million dollars, he said.

Zendesk, which generates around 50% of its revenue in North America, is also not bound by geographical constraints when it comes to acquisitions, he said. However, the company’s recent acquisitions had a significant European footprint, and it would like to strike more deals in the region, he added.

In February, it closed the acquisition of Klaus, an Estonian artificial intelligence (AI)-powered quality management platform, for an undisclosed amount. And in March, it agreed to acquire Ultimate, a German AI-powered customer support automation platform.

Zendesk expects a fast-paced growth due to the disruption caused by AI-powered tools. The number of customer interactions is expected to increase, with automation taking over basic interactions in the future, Barclay said.

The company paid for recent acquisitions with cash, Barclay said. It can fund future acquisitions from its balance sheets, as well as turn to its deep-pocketed investors or with debt, he noted.

A group led by private equity firms Hellman & Friedman and Permira acquired Zendesk in November 2022 for about USD 10.1bn plus debt.

Zendesk has more than 100,000 customers across 160 countries and territories. It has 5,450 employees, according to its website.

A&O Shearman and Castren & Snellman advised the company on its acquisition of Ultimate. A&O Shearman and Ellex advised on the Klaus deal, according to Mergermarket database.