Microsoft closes $16Bn acquisition of Nuance

Microsoft has closed on its approximately $16 billion acquisition of speech recognition company Nuance. Nuance’s artificial intelligence technology helped power Apple’s Siri digital voice assistant upon its release on iPhones more than a decade ago.

The deal was announced last year but faced a knock in December when British antitrust regulators said they were opening an investigation into whether it could result in a “substantial lessening of competition” in the U.K. market, later announcing the clearance of the deal.

The EU’s top antitrust authority said Microsoft and Nuance “offer very different products” and would continue to face strong competition in their respective markets. Mark Benjamin will continue to serve as CEO of Nuance and report to Scott Guthrie, the head of Microsoft's cloud computing and AI division.

Scott Guthrie, Executive Vice President of the Cloud + AI Group at Microsoft, said in a statement, “This powerful combination will help providers offer more affordable, effective and accessible healthcare, and help organizations in every industry create more personalized and meaningful customer experiences.”

Microsoft in January announced that it would spend $70 billion to acquire video game maker Activision Blizzard.