Big bet. Zoom to acquire cloud contact centre provider Five9 in $14.7 bn deal

Zoom Video Communications, Inc has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Five9 Inc. a provider of the intelligent cloud contact center, in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $14.7 billion.

It will combine Five9’s Contact Center as a Service (“CCaaS”) solution with Zoom’s broad communications platform. 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.

Five9 provides “scalable and secure cloud” contact center and delivers a comprehensive suite of applications for the management and optimisation of customer interactions across different channels, Zoom said.

“Enterprises communicate with their customers primarily through the contact center, 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,” said Eric S. Yuan, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Zoom.

“Businesses spend significant resources annually on their contact centers, but still struggle to deliver a seamless experience for their customers,” said Rowan Trollope, Chief Executive Officer of Five9.

“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,” added Trollope.

Zoom’s acquisition of Five9 is complementary to the growing popularity of its Zoom Phone offering. Zoom Phone is a modern, cloud phone system

The combination also offers both companies significant cross-selling opportunities to each other’s respective customer bases, it said.

Following the close of the transaction, Five9 will be an operating unit of Zoom and Trollope will become a President of Zoom and continue as CEO of Five9, reporting to Yuan.

As part of the agreement, Five9 stockholders will receive 0.5533 shares of Class A common stock of Zoom Video Communications, Inc. for each share of Five9, Inc. Based on the closing share price of Zoom Class A common stock as of July 16, 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.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2022 and is subject to approval by Five9 stockholders, the receipt of required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Cooley LLP is serving as legal counsel to Zoom. Qatalyst Partners is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Latham and Watkins LLP is serving as legal counsel to Five9.

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