(Reuters) -Zendesk Inc’s investor Light Street Capital Management said on Monday it will vote against the software company’s $10.2 billion deal to go private and instead proposed that Zendesk remain a standalone public company and find a new Chief Executive Officer.
Light Street, which manages funds that own more than 2% shares of Zendesk, said the deal struck in June with investment firms led by Hellman & Friedman and Permira undervalues the San Francisco-based company.
Instead, the investor proposed a recapitalization of the business, consisting of a $2 billion preferred equity investment arranged by Light Street and a $2 billion incremental debt facility.
Light Street added Zendesk should expand the board to ten seats and include five directors from Light Street and other preferred equity shareholders, and form a committee to search for a successor to CEO Mikkel Svane.
Zendesk, which struck the go-private deal in June, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Light Street’s move marks another turn in the saga, which started with Zendesk’s failed takeover of SurveyMonkey parent Momentive Global Inc in a $3.9 billion deal.
(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
