Nuance Climbs on Report Company Has Held Talks With Apple

Nuance Communications Inc., the U.S. maker of speech-recognition software, advanced the most in almost 18 months in Nasdaq trading on reports that Apple Inc. has held negotiations with the company.

The companies are in talks about an acquisition, or, more likely, a partnership, TechCrunch reported May 6, citing several unidentified sources. In November, speculation of a deal between the two surfaced after Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said the company had bought Nuance. He later said he’d made a mistake.