Zoom (ZM) acquires Five9 cloud-based call center operator for $15 billion in stock
The video conferencing company is making steps to ensure continued growth as the world continues to adjust to the pandemic.
Last year, in 2020, the world underwent a dramatic shift to work life as the coronavirus pandemic swept to each corner of the globe. As demand in technology soared, various companies saw incredible growth, chief among them being Zoom Video Communications Inc. Now, Zoom (ZM) has acquired cloud-based call center operator Five9 as part of a $15 billion stock deal.
The news was reported by Reuters on July 19, 2021. According to the report, both boards of the companies approved an acquisition which saw Five9 stockholders receive 0.5533 shares of Zoom stock for each share of Five9 stock. This makes it a stock-all deal valued at $14.7 billion, making it Zoom’s biggest acquisition to date.
In a blog post, Zoom CEO Eric S. Yuan talks about the effect this acquisition will hopefully have, “We expect that this acquisition will help enhance Zoom’s presence with customers and allow us to accelerate our long-term growth opportunity by adding the $24 billion contact center market.”
With a return to normality on the horizon, companies that struck gold during the COVID-19 pandemic will need to pivot to ensure they stay relevant. While people still rely heavily on video conferencing software to communicate, there is now more competition with the likes of Discord, Teams, and others. All of these will no doubt be looking to find a place for themselves as more people receive their vaccine and head back to the office.
However, now that we’ve got real-world evidence that people can work from home, products like Zoom will likely remain relevant. To ensure this – as Reuters notes – Zoom is “shifting to its two-year cloud-calling product Zoom Phone and conference-hosting product Zoom Rooms” which should see the company spread to other areas where communication is needed.
“The trend towards a hybrid workforce has accelerated over the last year,” says Yuan. “Enterprises not only need to enable customers to engage via their preferred channel, they need to empower their teams to accomplish more, and do so with empathy, purpose, and connection.” Hybrid workplaces could very well be here to stay, and Zoom appears to be in a position to support this.
Zoom continues to be a product that workers use to communicate with their colleagues when face-to-face conversations aren’t available. The acquisition of Five9 is a major step for the company, and it will be interesting to see how this affects the growth of it over the coming months and years. What do you think – do you use Zoom to communicate with your friends, family or colleagues or do you use another service?
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