Zoom Video Communications announced late Sunday that it had made a deal to acquire Five9 Inc, a cloud contact centre provider, in an all-stocks transaction worth $14.7 billion.
Five9 was founded in 2001 and provided the enterprise contact centre market with a software-as-a-service platform, which blew up in the wake of the pandemic. The offering helps organizations transfer on-premises data centres to the cloud.
The company pitches the offering as reliable, secure, compliant, and scalable, promising it will change customer experiences.
A changing market
In its first quarter, Five9 reported its revenue was up 45% over the first quarter of 2020, to $137.9 million. The net income, which stood at $16.1 million (the equivalent of 23 cents per diluted share), also grew by 45%.
Analysts forecast the company will have a profit of 13 cents per share, on revenue of $122.5 million. Chief Executive Officer, Rowan Trollope, said to SiliconANGLE that a significant driver of the growth has been transitioning to the cloud.
He added that people have ‘seen the writing on the wall’ and are responding accordingly. Customer experience has become a bigger priority, which he called a generational thing, with higher consumer expectations, especially in customer service.
Zoom wants to grow
Five9 may be the one getting acquired this time, though it has, in the past, made acquisitions too. It acquired Inference Solutions in October, bringing virtual agents into its product line. Trollope lauded the move, which he said played a crucial role in the company’s recent success.
The acquisition will allow Zoom to combine its communications platform with Five9’s contact centre-as-a-service solution, which Trollope hopes will transform the way businesses connect with their customers, creating the next generation in engagement.
After an initially successful IPO in June, Zoom is looking for other opportunities to capitalize on its meteoric rise.
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