Microsoft In Deal To Buy Nuance For $19.7B

Microsoft has agreed to acquire speech-recognition firm Nuance Communications for US$19.7 billion, adding to a series of big deals the company has struck to offer an expanded range of software tools to its customers.

The two companies on Monday, April 12, announced that Microsoft agreed to pay US$56 per Nuance share in the all-cash deal, a 23% premium over Friday’s closing price. The deal value includes Nuance debt, the companies said.

The acquisition is Microsoft’s second largest under CEO Satya Nadella after the company spent about US$26 billion for professional network LinkedIn in 2016.

Nuance, based in Burlington, Massachusetts, was a pioneer in speech recognition and artificial intelligence technology. Its software formed the basis of Apple’s Siri voice assistant before the Cupertino, California-based company switched to an in-house version. Nuance has explored a possible sale as far back as 2014, when Samsung Electronics and private-equity firms were seen as the most likely buyers.

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