Nuance to Buy Vlingo to Expand Voice-Command Technology
Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) agreed to buy Vlingo Inc. in a deal that gives the developer of voice- command technology a system that can respond to spoken words with actions such as Internet searches.
Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed in a statement today from Nuance, based in Burlington, Massachusetts, and Vlingo, a closely held company backed by Charles River Ventures Inc., Sigma Partners LP, Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) and AT&T Inc. (T)
The companies are combining after fighting legal battles over patent claims. The purchase will help capture rising demand for voice-command technology, which is being driven by devices such as Apple Inc.’s Siri, Nuance said.
“Our companies are stronger together than alone,” Dave Grannan, chief executive officer of Cambridge, Massachusetts- based Vlingo, said in the statement.
Nuance rose 7 percent to $25.63 at 4 p.m. New York time, for the shares’ biggest gain since Oct. 6. They have advanced 41 percent this year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Beth Jinks in New York at bjinks1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net
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