Customer service SaaS company Zendesk has agreed to an acquisition by an investor group for $10.2bn, in an all-cash transaction that will turn Zendesk into a private company.

The investor group is led by global investment firms Permira and Hellman & Friedman LLC. The group’s offer represents a premium of around 34pc over Zendesk’s closing stock price on 23 June 23. Under the terms of the agreement, Zendesk shareholders will receive $77.50 per share.

Zendesk opened its $10m EMEA headquarters in Dublin in 2018 and employs around 500 people in the county, according to Dublin.ie.

The acquisition deal follows a tumultuous period for the company. Last October, Zendesk shared plans to acquire Momentive, the parent company of SurveyMonkey, in an attempt to create a “powerful new customer intelligence company”.

However, the $4bn deal was terminated in February after Zendesk’s investors rejected the deal. In the same month, the company turned down a bid to be acquired for $17bn, TechCrunch reported.

Speaking on the acquistion, Zendesk founder and CEO Mikkel Svane said the deal marks “the start of a new chapter” for the company, with partners that are aligned with the “strength of our agile products and talented team”.

“With Hellman & Friedman and Permira’s support, we’ll continue to execute on our long-term strategy with our customers as our top priority, taking full advantage of the opportunity we see to help businesses navigate the ever changing expectations and demands of their customers,” Svane said.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by Zendesk’s board of directors and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including Zendesk stockholder approval.

“We see tremendous value in Zendesk’s platform and ability to grow at scale,” Hellman & Friedman partner  Tarim Wasim said. “Its intuitive yet powerful offering serves over 100,000 companies, ranging from the smallest businesses to the largest enterprises.”

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