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