“Speech-recognition software maker Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) has held discussions with potential suitors regarding a sale of the company, according to people familiar with the matter,” Gillian Tan, Dana Cimilluca and Ryan Knutson report for The Wall Street Journal.
“The Burlington, Mass., company has recently spoken about a possible sale of the company with Samsung Electronics Co. and private-equity firms, some of the people said,” Tan, Cimilluca and Knutson report. “It isn’t clear where sale talks, some of which happened earlier this year, currently stand or if they will lead to a deal.”
“Last September, Nuance said its voice and language technologies, which are already used in Samsung’s handsets, televisions and tablets, would also be used in the South Korean company’s wearable devices,” Tan, Cimilluca and Knutson report. “Its technology is used in Apple Inc.’s Siri.”
“The company had a market capitalization of about $5.5 billion before The Wall Street Journal reported the talks. Nuance shares rose sharply on the news,” Tan, Cimilluca and Knutson report. “It counts activist investor Carl Icahn as its biggest shareholder. Mr. Icahn’s firm owned about 19% of Nuance as at March 31, according to filings, and has two representatives on the company’s board.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hmm, is Carl’s little plan coming together? We’re sure he’d welcome a bidding war between Apple and Samsung over Nuance.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Kewo” for the heads up.]
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