Daily business briefing

Zoom reaches $14.7 billion deal to acquire Five9, OPEC and Russia agree to increase oil production, and more [Try 6 risk free issues of The Week magazine. Order now.]( [The Week Logo]( [Subscribe to The Week magazine]( [Subscribe to The Week magazine]( Daily business briefing 1. [Zoom to acquire Five9 in $14.7 billion deal]( Zoom Video Communications said Sunday it had reached a $14.7 billion all-stock deal to acquire Five9 Inc., a cloud-based customer-service software provider. Zoom has seen explosive growth during the pandemic as people used it to meet online for work, education, and socializing. The acquisition is the video conferencing company's biggest ever, following the purchases of several office collaboration products, a cloud phone system, and an all-in-one home communications appliance in the past year. The latest acquisition will help Zoom expand its services to businesses and tap into the $24 billion contact-center market. The centers provide agents to answer questions from customers and have become increasingly popular among companies during the pandemic. [[TechCrunch]( [The Wall Street Journal]( [Share to Facebook]( [Share to Twitter]( [Send in email](mailto:?Subject=Zoom+to+acquire+Five9+in+$14.7+billion+deal&body=Read the story here: utm_campaign=business_briefing_newsletter_20210719&utm_source=business_briefing_newsletter) 2. [OPEC, Russia agree to increase oil production]( OPEC and oil-producing allies led by Russia agreed Sunday to increase daily oil production by 400,000 barrels a day. The move will restore capacity the producers cut when demand plummeted at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The deal came as many economies around the world are recovering following a drop in COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. Oil prices had been rising as the loosening of coronavirus restrictions caused demand to rebound, but prices started easing recently in anticipation of a deal to increase production. Brent, the international benchmark, and West Texas Intermediate have dropped by about 5 percent from recent multiyear highs in recent days. [[The Wall Street Journal]( [Share to Facebook]( [Share to Twitter]( [Send in email](mailto:?Subject=OPEC,+Russia+agree+to+increase+oil+production&body=Read the story here: utm_campaign=business_briefing_newsletter_20210719&utm_source=business_briefing_newsletter) Sponsored content from Northern Trust [Supporting Female Founders Through Private Investing]( [Sponsored content from Northern Trust]( 3. [Reuters: J&J explores plan to offload Baby Powder liabilities]( Johnson & Johnson is considering shifting liabilities from widespread Baby Powder litigation to a new business that would then file for bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported Sunday, citing seven people familiar with the matter. The company faces lawsuits filed by women who say J&J's talc caused their ovarian cancer. One of the healthcare giant's lawyers reportedly told plaintiffs' lawyers about the plan, which could reduce the size of payments in cases not settled before such a move. J&J has not made a final decision on whether to pursue the bankruptcy plan, and still might decide against it, Reuters reported. The J&J subsidiary responsible for the company's talc products said it had "not decided on any particular course of action in this litigation." [[Reuters]( [Share to Facebook]( [Share to Twitter]( [Send in email](mailto:?Subject=Reuters:+J&J+explores+plan+to+offload+Baby+Powder+liabilities&body=Read the story here: utm_campaign=business_briefing_newsletter_20210719&utm_source=business_briefing_newsletter) 4. [Stock futures fall after 1st down week in 4]( U.S. stock index futures dropped early Monday as inflation fears intensified. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down by 1 percent several hours before the opening bell. Futures tied to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell by 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. The declines came after Wall Street's first negative week in four. On Friday, a U.S. consumer confidence index from the University of Michigan indicated that consumers expect prices to rise 4.8 percent in the next year, which would be the sharpest rise since August 2008. This week, the markets could get direction from corporate earnings, as nine Dow components and 76 S&P companies report quarterly updates. [[CNBC]( [Share to Facebook]( [Share to Twitter]( [Send in email](mailto:?Subject=Stock+futures+fall+after+1st+down+week+in+4&body=Read the story here: utm_campaign=business_briefing_newsletter_20210719&utm_source=business_briefing_newsletter) 5. [U.S. father and son sentenced in Japan for helping Ghosn escape]( A Tokyo court on Monday sentenced an American father and son to prison for helping former Nissan chair Carlos Ghosn escape to Lebanon before his scheduled trial in Japan for alleged financial crimes. Michael Taylor received a two-year sentence, and his son Peter was sentenced to one year and eight months for their roles in the December 2019 escape. Ghosn hid inside a large box used for audio equipment that was flown out of the country on a private jet. The defense argued that the Taylors were used by Ghosn. Chief Judge Hideo Nirei said they committed a serious crime, no matter who was making the decisions. The Taylors were arrested in Massachusetts last year and extradited to Japan. [[The Associated Press]( [Share to Facebook]( [Share to Twitter]( [Send in email](mailto:?Subject=U.S.+father+and+son+sentenced+in+Japan+for+helping+Ghosn+escape&body=Read the story here: utm_campaign=business_briefing_newsletter_20210719&utm_source=business_briefing_newsletter) [Read more business stories at theweek.com]( MOST POPULAR [Related image]( [Louisiana city removes statue of Confederate general donated in 1922]( Catherine Garcia [Related image]( [Tennis player Coco Gauff will miss Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19]( Catherine Garcia [Related image]( [IRS enforcement off the table as funding in bipartisan infrastructure deal, GOP senator says]( Tim O'Donnell [Related image]( [Doctors unlikely to persuade COVID-19 vaccine hesitant, poll finds]( Tim O'Donnell [Related image]( [Are the Olympics 'unreformable'?]( Tim O'Donnell [Speed reads banner] [Article image]( [2020 polls badly understated support for GOP candidates, review finds, and nobody's sure why]( July 19, 2021 [Article image]( [Unvaccinated Americans are the least worried about the Delta variant, poll finds]( July 19, 2021 [Article image]( [John Oliver explains his love for the 'wholesome' Danish children's TV show about a man with huge genitalia]( July 19, 2021 [Article image]( [Vaccination centers vandalized in France amid protests against COVID-19 measures]( July 19, 2021 [Read more of today's best articles at theweek.com]( [Try 6 risk-free issues of The Week magazine]( [Unsubscribe from this list]( | [Privacy Policy]( © 2021 The Week Publications, Inc. 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