Today, Verizon Business has said that it has agreed to acquire the video conferencing and collaboration specialist, and Zoom rival, BlueJeans Network. This news means that Verizon’s already immersive UC&C portfolio is made even more comprehensive. The BlueJeans VCaaS offer currently supplies a customer base ranging from small businesses to some of the world’s biggest and best-known brands.
As well know, the current coronavirus pandemic means that an unprecedented number of people around the globe are now working from home, needing to collaborate online with customers and coworkers, so this purchase would seem to be a wise move.
As a result of the acquisition, the BlueJeans platform will form a part of Verizon’s UCaaS offering, as well as being integrated into their 5G product roadmap, with target verticals for the resulting secure video collaboration solutions being telemedicine and distance learning, to name just two.
Speaking about the news, Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business, said:
“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,” she added; “Collaboration and communications have become top of the agenda for businesses of all sizes and in all sectors in recent months. We are excited to combine the power of BlueJeans’ video platform with Verizon Business’ connectivity networks, platforms and solutions to meet our customers’ needs.”
Also commenting on the news, Quentin Gallivan, CEO of BlueJeans Network, stated:
“The combination of BlueJeans’ world class enterprise video collaboration platform and trusted brand with Verizon Business’ next generation edge computing innovation will deliver highly differentiated and compelling solutions to our joint customers,” concluding:
“We are very excited about joining the Verizon team and we truly believe the future of business communications starts today!”
BlueJeans is often quoted one of the market-leading video conferencing and collaboration providers – all the way from cloud-based collaboration right up to large, interactive, scalable and secure events. The founders of BlueJeans and key management team members will join Verizon to continue the growth and innovation of the business under the Verizon umbrella. Once the deal is completed, BlueJeans Network employees will become Verizon employees.
No financial details have been disclosed. Still subject to the usual closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in Q2. Evercore and Goodwin Procter served as advisers to BlueJeans, and Debevoise & Plimpton as adviser to Verizon.
