Zoom to acquire cloud contact center provider Five9 for $14.7 billion

Zoom Video Communications has announced the acquisition of Five9, an intelligent cloud contact center provider. The all-stock transaction values at approx. $14.7 billion. The company, in a statement, announced that the Contact Center as a Service (“CCaaS”) solution of Five9 and Zoom's platform will transform how businesses connect with their customers and build the customer engagement platform of the future. The acquisition will help enhance Zoom’s presence with enterprise customers, it added.

“We are continuously looking for ways to enhance our platform. The addition of Five9 is a natural fit that will deliver even more happiness and value to our customers,” said Eric S. Yuan, CEO, and Founder of Zoom. “Zoom is built on a core belief that robust and reliable communications technology enables interactions that build greater empathy and trust, and we believe that holds particularly true for customer engagement. 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.”

“Businesses spend significant resources annually on their contact centers, but still struggle to deliver a seamless experience for their customers,” said Rowan Trollope, CEO of Five9. “It has always been Five9’s mission to make it easy for businesses to fix that problem and engage with their customers in a more meaningful and efficient way. Joining forces with Zoom will provide Five9’s business customers access to best-of-breed solutions, particularly Zoom Phone, that will enable them to realize 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.”

Zoom’s acquisition of Five9 is complementary to the growing popularity of its Phone offering. Zoom Phone is a modern, cloud phone system. It offers a digital alternative to legacy phone offerings; thus, enabling organizations to connect and interact in new and convenient ways to keep businesses moving. The combination also offers both companies significant cross-selling opportunities to each other’s respective customer bases. As a result of the acquisition, the company will play an even greater role in driving the digital future and bringing companies and their customers closer together.

About the deal

Following the close of the transaction, Five9 will be an operating unit of Zoom. Rowan Trollope will become a President of Zoom and continue as CEO of Five9, reporting to Eric Yuan. Five9 stockholders will receive 0.5533 shares of Class A common stock of Zoom for each share of Five9. The deal, due to the closing price of Zoom's share at NASDAQ, values at approx. $14.7 billion.

The Boards of Directors of Zoom and Five9 have approved the transaction. The Board of Directors of Five9 recommends that Five9 stockholders approve the transaction and adopt the merger agreement. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as exclusive financial advisor and Cooley LLP, as legal counsel to Zoom. Qatalyst Partners served as exclusive financial advisor and Latham and Watkins LLP served as legal counsel to Five9.