(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 under discussion could value Nuance at about $ 56 per share, the source said, adding that a deal could be announced as soon as Monday.
Bloomberg News, which first reported on the agreement between Nuance and Microsoft, said the bloom.bg/2Qgfm7e talks are ongoing and that discussions could still crumble.
Nuance, based in Burlington, Massachusetts, whose voice recognition technology helped launch Apple Inc.’s assistant, Siri, manufactures software for sectors ranging from healthcare to the automotive industry.
The deal with Nuance would be Microsoft’s second-largest deal, following its $ 26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn in 2016.
Microsoft and Nuance did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Reports of Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru and Krystal Hu in New York; Edited by Daniel Wallis and Lisa Shumaker