Zoom to buy Five9 for $15bn in largest acquisition yet
Zoom announces a $14.7bn deal to buy a cloud-based call center operator in its largest-ever acquisition, as competition in the video conferencing sector intensifies.
Synonymous with the pandemic, Zoom has been a clear winner since everything from business meetings, classroom lessons and even office ‘drinks’ went virtual via the video conferencing platform.
The California-based company has said it plans to shift its attention to Zoom Phone – its two-year-old cloud-calling product – and Zoom Room, a conference-hosting product.
“The 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 center market,” Zoom said in a statement on Sunday.
The acquisition of Five9 will complement its Zoom Phone service by adding the call centre operator’s business customers, which includes the likes of Lululemon and Under Armour, and combining its contact centre software to optimize customer interactions across channels, it added.
Five9 will become an operating unit of Zoom and its chief executive, Rowan Trollope, will become a president of the company, staying on as chief of the unit after the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of next year, Zoom said.