(Reuters) -Microsoft Corp. is in advanced talks to buy artificial intelligence and speech technology company Nuance Communications Inc. for about $ 16 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The price discussed could value Nuance at about $ 56 per share, the source said, adding that a deal could be announced as early as Monday.
Bloomberg News, which first reported the deal between Nuance and Microsoft, said that bloom.bg/2Qgfm7e talks are ongoing and that talks could still fall apart.
Nuance, based in Burlington, Massachusetts, whose voice recognition technology helped launch Apple Inc.’s Siri assistant, develops software for industries ranging from healthcare to the automotive industries.
The transaction with Nuance would be Microsoft’s second largest transaction, after its LinkedIn acquisition of $ 26.2 billion in 2016
Microsoft and Nuance did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Report by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru and Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Lisa Shumaker