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Zoom buys cloud contact centre firm Five9 for $14.7bn

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 19 Jul 2021

Zoom Video Communications has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Five9, a provider of intelligent cloud contact centre solutions, in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $14.7 billion.

In a statement, Zoom says combining Five9’s contact centre-as-a-service solution with Zoom’s broad communications platform will transform how businesses connect with their customers, building the customer engagement platform of the future.

The deal follows the video-conferencing company’s meteoric rise after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen more people working and learning from home.

Zoom reported fourth-quarter net income of $260.4 million, or 87 cents a share, compared with net income of $15.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Total revenue for the quarter was $882.5 million, up 369% year-over-year.

The company says the Five9 acquisition is expected to help enhance Zoom’s presence with enterprise customers and allow it to accelerate its long-term growth opportunity by adding the $24 billion contact centre market.

According to Zoom, Five9 is a pioneer of cloud-based contact centre software. Its highly-scalable and secure cloud contact centre delivers a suite of applications that allows management and optimisation of customer interactions across many different channels.

“We are continuously looking for ways to enhance our platform, and the addition of Five9 is a natural fit that will deliver even more happiness and value to our customers,” says Eric S Yuan, CEO and founder of Zoom.

“Zoom is built on a core belief that robust and reliable communications technology enables interactions that build greater empathy and trust, and we believe that holds particularly true for customer engagement.

“Enterprises communicate with their customers primarily through the contact centre, and we believe this acquisition creates a leading customer engagement platform that will help redefine how companies of all sizes connect with their customers. We are thrilled to join forces with the Five9 team, and I look forward to welcoming them to the Zoom family.”

“Businesses spend significant resources annually on their contact centres, but still struggle to deliver a seamless experience for their customers,” says Rowan Trollope, CEO of Five9.

“It has always been Five9’s mission to make it easy for businesses to fix that problem and engage with their customers in a more meaningful and efficient way. Joining forces with Zoom will provide Five9’s business customers access to best-of-breed solutions, particularly Zoom Phone, that will enable them to realise more value and deliver real results for their business.

“This, combined with Zoom’s ‘ease-of use’ philosophy and broad communication portfolio, will truly enable customers to engage via their preferred channel of choice.”

Zoom’s acquisition of Five9 is complementary to the growing popularity of its Zoom Phone offering, says the video-conferencing company.

Zoom Phone is a cloud phone system that offers a digital alternative to legacy phone offerings, enabling organisations to connect and interact.

As part of the agreement, Five9 stockholders will receive 0.5533 shares of Class A common stock of Zoom Video Communications for each share of Five9.

Based on the closing share price of Zoom Class A common stock as of 16 July 2021, this represents a per share price for Five9 common stock of $200.28 and an implied transaction value of approximately $14.7 billion.

The boards of directors of Zoom and Five9 have approved the transaction.

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