Verizon has announced it is set to acquire BlueJeans, a video-conferencing company catering to business customers. The move comes as the COVID-19 crisis has changed the way millions of people work.
A Verizon spokeswoman would only confirm that the company is paying “less than $500 million” for BlueJeans. CNBC reported that the company is paying around $400 million.
The companies said that BlueJeans’ video-conferencing setup “has played a significant part in continuing companies’ operations during the ongoing work-from-home surge.” As a Zoom competitor, BlueJeans touts its security, high quality and wide range of customers, from smaller organizations to multinational customers.
Verizon said in the statement that the acquisition will beef up its “unified communications portfolio.” The companies said the deal would combine the two firms’ services immediately.
The BlueJeans acquisition will provide “secure and real-time engagement solutions for high-growth areas such as telemedicine, distance learning and field service work,” Verizon said.
“We are very excited about joining the Verizon team, and we truly believe the future of business communications starts today,” said Quentin Gallivan, CEO of BlueJeans Network, in a prepared statement.
Due to the COVID crisis, “collaboration and communications have become top of the agenda for businesses of all sizes and in all sectors in recent months,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business. “As the way we work continues to change, it is absolutely critical for businesses and public sector customers to have access to a comprehensive suite of offerings that are enterprise-ready, secure, frictionless and that integrate with existing tools.”
BlueJeans said it is “one of the market-leading video conference and collaboration tools” for businesses. Its service can handle “large, interactive events that are simple, scalable and secure.”
The two companies said that “BlueJeans founders and key management team will join Verizon.” Clearly, Verizon sees this as a high-growth area for both additional customers and innovation. BlueJeans employees will officially become Verizon employees after the deal is closed.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.
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