Software company Zendesk Inc on Thursday reiterated the benefits of its proposed acquisition of Momentive Global Inc and asked shareholders to vote in favor, just after two activist investors opposed the deal.

In a letter to shareholders, Zendesk restated mostly synergies that were disclosed earlier about the all-stock deal to buy Momentive, the parent company of online survey portal SurveyMonkey.

“Zendesk’s board of directors’ determination to acquire Momentive is the result of a thoughtful and deliberative review process spanning multiple alternatives within adjacent and complementary markets,” the company said.

However, activist investor Janus Henderson Investors said on Tuesday he saw no strategic benefit in the software company’s proposed acquisition and advised the company to return to focusing on running its business. autonomous.

Janus Henderson owns a 4.94% stake in Zendesk, according to data from Refinitiv.

Meanwhile, another activist investor, Jana Partners, increased pressure on Zendesk to drop its acquisition plans, arguing the deal was too expensive. When the deal was announced in October, it was valued at nearly US$4 billion.

Zendesk said it had “reinforced its belief in the expected benefits and synergies” of the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of this year.

(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)