Meta explores strategic alternatives for Kustomer business-software firm

(Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc said on Friday it is exploring strategic alternatives for customer service company Kustomer that it acquired in a process ending last year.

"We are currently exploring strategic alternatives for Kustomer and will continue to support Kustomer's product and customer base throughout this process," the Facebook owner said in an emailed statement to Reuters, without providing additional details on the alternatives.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news on Friday, said Meta is planning to divest Kustomer as it looks to looks to refocus on its core business, citing the company and people familiar with the planned deal.

Kustomer sells CRM software for businesses to communicate with consumers by phone, email, text messages, WhatsApp, Instagram and other channels. It had seen a usage soar during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meta has made the decision to focus on its fastest growing business messaging offerings, including the monetization opportunity for WhatsApp in light of the company's "efficiency efforts," the company said.

(Reporting by Yana Gaur, Rishabh Jaiswal and Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by Diane Craft and William Mallard)