Video conferencing platform Zoom, which has become a household name during the past year or so, announced on Sunday that it will be taking over Five9, a provider of cloud contact center software. The purchase will involve an all-stock transaction, which will value the firm at around $14.7 billion.
That’s not the only special thing about this deal, though, as it marks the first billion-dollar acquisition on Zoom’s part, and comes in the form of the second biggest tech deal in the United States this year, following in after Microsoft’s planned takeover of Nuance Communications, for an apparent value of $16 billion.
The news was announced by the video communication company through a press release, where CEO Eric Yuan said, “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.”
As of Friday, Five9 closed with a market cap of $11.9 billion. Stockholders in the firm will each receive 0.5533 shares of Zoom Video Communications, said the latter, in exchange for every share of Five9. As such, the service provider will be standing at a per share price of $200.28, and a premium of 13%. This would represent about 14% of the market cap at Zoom, which currently stands at nearly $107 billion.
This is just another feather in the cap of the video calling service, which has been among the few companies that have seen record growths during the pandemic. This has been attributed to global lockdowns and restrictions, which forced employees, professionals, and even students, to move towards remote work and communication. As such, last year alone saw the firm expand its revenues by as much as 326%. However, at the same time, this year is proving to be rather slow, as companies across the world reopen, and people begin moving towards face-to-face problems.
This has resulted in the group eyeing to take over some additional sources of revenue, especially in the face of increasing competition at the hands of Microsoft Teams.
Meanwhile, Five9, thanks to a “new phase in cloud computing,” too, noted rapid growth in early 2020, mainly due to increased demands for call center technology, so as to facilitate remote work. This might also explain the reason why Zoom got interested.
With revenues hitting $435 million last year after noting an increase of 33%, CEO Rowan Trollope had told CNBC a couple months ago, that the firm had signed two of its largest deals, which are expected to generate a combined annual revenue of over $20 million. Following the merger with Zoom, Trollope will also assume an additional role as a President at Zoom, while retaining his post as Five9’s Head.
The deal will most likely close by the first half of 2022, which means there is still almost a year for working out the subtleties. This would include Five9 stockholders approving the deal, as well as allowances for regulatory clearances. Advisors included Goldman Sachs on Zoom’s part, and Frank Quattrone’s Qatalyst Partners on Five9’s end.
