SoundHound AI (NASDAQ:SOUN) has announced plans to acquire LivePerson, a move analysts at Wedbush say could strengthen its position in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence market.
SoundHound said it has entered a definitive agreement to purchase LivePerson for roughly $43 million in equity value, representing about a 22% premium to the target’s 30-day volume-weighted average price. The deal marks an expansion beyond voice AI into digital customer engagement, combining SoundHound’s voice and agentic AI platform with LivePerson’s messaging-based capabilities.
Wedbush analysts described the acquisition as a strategic step toward building scale and enhancing the company’s data advantage.
“This acquisition marks SOUN’s expansion into AI-driven digital customer service,” they wrote, adding that it will unify voice and digital engagement tools to “deliver additional revenue and scale.”
Founded in 1995, LivePerson has developed a large enterprise presence, powering roughly one billion messages per month across industries including banking, airlines, automotive, and telecommunications. The combined company is expected to operate in more than 30 countries and serve a broad base of enterprise clients.
According to Wedbush, a central rationale for the deal is the expansion of SoundHound’s data resources. The firm noted that the company’s voice AI systems will be able to leverage LivePerson’s messaging data, creating “a data foundation of tens of billions of customer interactions annually,” which could improve model performance and automation outcomes.
The transaction also includes balance sheet considerations. SoundHound expects to receive approximately $74 million of LivePerson’s cash at closing, before addressing outstanding debt, including convertible notes due in 2026.
The deal implies a total enterprise value of about $250 million, with plans to retire remaining debt using a mix of cash and equity. Wedbush noted that the combined company is expected to emerge with no debt and a stronger financial position.
Looking ahead, SoundHound projects revenue of $350 million to $400 million by 2027, including at least $100 million from LivePerson’s existing customer base. Wedbush said additional upside could come from cross-selling opportunities, noting that offering SoundHound’s voice AI tools to LivePerson clients, and vice versa, could help drive revenue toward $500 million over time.
“The company continues to leverage an extensive M&A strategy to further enhance its voice AI capabilities that integrate into its proprietary tech stack while expanding its customer reach by adding more businesses to cross-sell/upsell into,” Wedbush wrote.
“We believe this was a strategic move by SOUN that will better position the company to meet this transformational market shift coming while broadening its customer portfolio.”
Wedbush maintained its ‘Outperform’ rating on SoundHound shares, with a 12-month price target of $12. Shares traded up almost 5% at about $8 on Wednesday afternoon.