Security News > 2021 > September > Zoom's $15bn merger with Five9 probed by Uncle Sam for national security risks

Zoom's ties to China are at the center of a US government investigation into the video-conferencing giant's $15bn plan to take over Five9, a California call-center-in-the-cloud.

The FCC was reviewing an application [PDF] by Zoom and Five9 as part of the takeover bid until the regulator was asked by Justice Department official David Plotinsky to hold off until the committee had finished scrutinizing the overall deal.

Zoom promised to beef up its security, especially so when Uncle Sam found the vid-chat giant fell short of those promises.

Zoom also closed the paid-for account of US-based Chinese activists after they held an international Zoom meeting marking the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Zoom's video-chat platform business boomed as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold globally.

A spokesperson for Zoom told The Register it was confident in completing its merger: "The Five9 acquisition is subject to certain telecom regulatory approvals. We have made filings with the various applicable regulatory agencies, and these approval processes are proceeding as expected. We continue to anticipate receiving the required regulatory approvals to close the transaction in the first half of 2022." .

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https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/09/22/zooms_15bn_merger_with_five9/