Zoom\u2019s roughly $15 billion acquisition of the call center software company Five9 fell apart on Thursday evening, when the companies said they would terminate a deal that had drawn national security scrutiny.<\/p>\n
Five9 said in a news release that the deal had failed to garner enough support from its shareholders, and that the company would continue to operate independently. Allison Wilson, a spokeswoman for Five9, said the company believed it would build on its \u201ccurrent proven momentum\u201d as an independent firm.<\/p>\n
Zoom\u2019s chief executive, Eric S. Yuan, said in a blog post that while the acquisition had been an opportunity for the company to expand, it \u201cwas in no way foundational to the success of our platform.\u201d A spokesperson for Zoom, CJ Lin, said the company had no further comment.<\/p>\n
The proposed deal between the companies, both based in California, had attracted government scrutiny. In August, the Justice Department pushed for a federal review to determine whether the deal \u201cposes a risk to the national security or law enforcement interests of the United States,\u201d according to a letter to the Federal Communications Commission. The agency said it was worried about the possibility of \u201cforeign participation\u201d in the transaction.<\/p>\n
In December, a Zoom executive was indicted and accused of working with the Chinese government to disrupt online events held for the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.<\/p>\n