Zoom Video Communications has announced a US$14.7-billion all-stock deal to buy cloud-based call centre operator Five9 in its largest-ever acquisition, as competition intensifies in its core video-conferencing sector. Zoom has become a household name and investor favourite in the year since the coronavirus pandemic, as businesses and schools adopted its services to hold virtual classes, office meets and socialise. The San Jose, California-based company is now shifting focus to its two-year-old cloud-calling product Zoom Phone and conference-hosting product Zoom Rooms as bigger players Facebook and Google amp up their video products. Shares in Zoom, which went public in 2019, rose 1.4% to $361.97 on Friday, valuing the company at around $106-billion