San Francisco,apr 12
Microsoft is reportedly acquiring speech-recognition company Nuance Communications for nearly $16 billion and the deal could be announced on Monday (US time), the media reported.According to a CNBC report citing sources on Sunday, Microsoft first approached Nuance in December last year.At about $56 per share for Nuance, the acquisition value could be nearly $16 billion.At $16 billion, Nuance would be Microsoft’s second largest acquisition after LinkedIn that the company bought in 2016 for $27 billion.According to the report, Nuance could expand Microsoft’s capabilities in voice software.Nuance is a US multinational computer software technology corporation, headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, that provides speech recognition and artificial intelligence.Nuance merged with its competitor in the commercial large-scale speech application business, ScanSoft, in October 2005.ScanSoft was a Xerox spin-off that was bought in 1999 by Visioneer, a hardware and software scanner company, which adopted ScanSoft as the new merged company name.Today, Nuance leads innovation in conversational AI, making intuitive, award-winning technology that adapts to each business and every unique situation.
