The all-stock deal will allow Zoom to expand its range of services, CEO Eric Yan said in a statement on Sunday: The acquisition aims to secure Zoom’s growth as pandemic restrictions ease. The company became a household name after lockdowns and working from home orders forced countless businesses to invest in videoconferencing. In recent months, however, the hypergrowth has slowed, as workers have begun returning to offices. Zoom has responded by expanding its cloud-based conferencing offerings. “The trend towards a hybrid workforce has accelerated over the last year, advancing contact centers’ shift to the cloud and increasing demand by customers for customized and personalized experiences,” said Yuan. The Five9 acquisition will serve this strategy in several ways. Zoom plans to combine the company’s contact-center as a service solution with Zoom’s communications platform. It will also harness Five9’s customers and software to expand the cloud-calling system Zoom Phone. The transaction is Zoom’s first billion-dollar acquisition and the second-biggest tech deal in the US this year, after Microsoft’s $16 billion purchase of Nuance. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2022.
