Five9 has confirmed that Sagar Gupta of Anson Funds has been appointed to the company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.
Gupta currently serves as the Portfolio Manager and Head of Active Engagement at Anson Funds, a privately held alternative asset management company that amassed a significant stake in Five9 back in July.
At the time, it was reported that the deal might involve a board seat for an Anson executive, with those rumors having now been substantiated.
According to Reuters, Anson’s decision to increase its stake in the company was part of a plan to pressure the CCaaS vendor into selling up.
Meanwhile, a similar deal was struck in October with activist investor Legion Partners.
Like Anson, Legion has increased its stake in Five9, with the investor allegedly also eyeing up a board seat and hoping to introduce cost-cutting measures.
While Five9 has not commented on the size of either stake or whether the company is up for sale, from the outside looking in, the activist investors appear to be making their presence felt.
A Rollercoaster 12 Months at Five9
The most recent whispers of a potential sale first surfaced in December of last year, with Zoom named as one of the companies rumored to be in the conversation.
However, Five9 quickly quashed those murmurs, going against its own general policy to deny the claims.
In an official statement at the time, the company said: “Five9 was approached with such an opportunity; however, Five9 is not pursuing any such acquisition.”
Since then, Five9’s share price has tumbled 47 percent year-to-date (YoY), despite continued double-digit revenue growth in a crowded market.
In response to the stock price drop, earlier this summer, the company announced that it was aiming to drive “shareholder value” by laying off approximately 180 employees by the end of 2024.
Thankfully, the company’s share price has since shown signs of improvement. Indeed, it’s up by over 35 percent from October 1.
Moreover, there have been other bright spots throughout the year.
During the company’s Q2 2024 earnings call, Mike Burkland, CEO and Chairman of Five9, confirmed that Five9 had hit $1BN in annual revenue run rate.
Elsewhere, 2024 also saw Five9 secure its “largest deal ever” with a Fortune 50 U.S. bank serving 70 million customers globally, with the agreement set to contribute over $50 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) for the company over the coming years.
Nevetheless, it will be fascinating to see how Five9 performs in the coming months and whether Gupta’s appointment leads to renewed suggestions of a potential sale.
But for now, Burkland remains bullish about the company’s ability to drive growth moving forward:
Our Board and management team are confident that we have the right strategy in place to drive durable growth, expand margins, deliver strong cash flow and ultimately generate significant returns for our shareholders.
“We look forward to welcoming Sagar to our Board and benefitting from his insights as an experienced technology investor, public company director, and shareholder of Five9.”
More News from Five9
Last month, Five9 confirmed plans to integrate its unified routing and real-time transcription tools directly into the ServiceNow Customer Service Management (CSM) platform.
Additionally, it introduces Native Call Controls, enabling agents to manage digital and voice interactions seamlessly within a single interface.
This collaboration aims to streamline contact center operations, cut costs, and boost agent productivity.
The vendor also recently confirmed the launch of its next-generation AI-powered virtual agents, called Five AI Agents.
First teased by CEO Mike Burkland during an earnings call, these virtual agents will operate across voice and digital channels, enhancing Five9’s AI offerings.
Positioned as a self-service front-end solution, they complement the existing AI Agent Assist, which supports human-led customer service.
