New York, April 22, 2026, 08:15 EDT
SoundHound AI shares bounced back in premarket action Wednesday, up roughly 3.8% as traders reassessed the voice AI firm’s proposed $43 million all-stock acquisition of LivePerson. The stock hovered near $8.15 before the bell, recovering some ground after tumbling 5.65% to $7.85 on Tuesday, the day the deal was made public.
It’s a significant step for SoundHound, which has ambitions beyond voice tech—now pitching a broader customer-service suite spanning calls, texts, and web chats. According to the companies, the deal brings together 25 Fortune 100 clients in over 30 countries and folds in a platform processing close to 1 billion customer messages every month.
SoundHound expects to close the deal with zero debt, projecting revenue for 2027 in the $350 million to $400 million range—$100 million of that should stem from LivePerson’s clients. The company added that its current customers could underwrite up to $500 million in revenue, a big step up from the $168.9 million SoundHound has on the books for 2025.
LivePerson shareholders are set to get SoundHound stock valued at roughly $42.8 million, according to terms of the merger. The share count will be determined by SoundHound’s 10-day average leading up to closing, but will land somewhere between $7 and $12 a share. SoundHound also expects to collect $74 million in cash from LivePerson before LivePerson pays off its 2026 convertible notes.
The setup allows for potential dilution—if more shares are issued, each existing holding could shrink in value. In addition, the related restructuring will address just over $261 million in LivePerson’s first- and second-lien secured notes, according to numbers included in SoundHound’s filing.
Keyvan Mohajer, the chief executive, called it a union of “two complementary conversational AI pioneers.” LivePerson’s John Sabino, CEO, noted the fading separation between “talking” and “typing” as people switch among phone, text, and web channels. SoundHound AI
It’s a modest price next to LivePerson’s operations, but a different story when you stack it against the company’s balance sheet. According to Reuters company data, LivePerson’s revenue hit $243.7 million in 2025, with $391.8 million in debt on the books. SoundHound, by comparison, reported $168.9 million in revenue and kept its debt load light.
This deal nudges SoundHound further into the enterprise customer-service tech world. Reuters notes that could bring it face-to-face with players like NICE and Five9 in the contact-center AI space, as well as Twilio on the messaging front. SoundHound itself says it’s steering hard into digital customer service.
But there are still obstacles. LivePerson shareholders need to vote yes, and some foreign investment sign-offs are required. SoundHound’s shares must get Nasdaq’s nod before they’re issued, and a Form S-4 registration statement has to go live. The companies also pointed to possible snags with integration, customer churn, and outstanding liabilities from the past.
The deal is slated to wrap up in the second half of 2026. Should it go through, LivePerson would mark SoundHound’s fifth strategic buy. The move would push SoundHound deeper into messaging, chat, and digital orchestration—expanding well beyond its core voice platform.
