Nuance Communications Inc. continued to help thin the speech-recognition herd, snapping up VoiceSignal Technologies Inc. in a deal valued at nearly $300 million.
Nuance said it will fork over 5.8 million Nuance shares as well as $204 million in cash for privately held VoiceSignal, a fellow Massachusetts-based developer. The acquisition, which is slated to close by the end of the year, will add $55 million to $57 million in revenue to Nuance, the company said.
Long hailed as a potentially huge revenue source, speech-recognition technology is only now gaining traction in wireless. Developers and operators are hoping to spur data usage by allowing subscribers to use speech to navigate through cumbersome carrier decks instead of triple-tapping messages and clicking endlessly.
Nuance recently picked up rival BeVocal for $140 million, and last year bought out Dictaphone for $357 million. Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp. earlier this year picked up Tellme Networks Inc. in a deal rumored to be worth as much as $800 million, and several smaller players are continuing to draw investment capital.
“By combining forces with Nuance, we can accelerate the realization of our common vision for mobile handsets: to eliminate the input bottleneck from small, mobile device keypads and make accessible to users the full power of mobile devices,” said VoiceSignal CEO Rich Geruson. “Joining Nuance’s assets with our capabilities in mobile positions the company well in the . market of mobile search, where a voice interface will be the key to unlock its potential.”
Thanks to the acquisition, Nuance said it expects its “mobility” revenues to exceed $125 million by 2008. The firm’s customers will include AT&T Inc., Motorola Inc., Nokia Corp., Sprint Nextel Corp. and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P.
Investors welcomed the news, sending shares of Nuance up 67 cents, or more than 4 percent, to $15.95 per share.
Nuance refines art of acquisition, acquires VoiceSignal for $300M
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