Private equity firm Warburg Pincus has agreed to acquire USD175m in common stock of Nuance Communications, which will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes as well as potentia
Private equity firm Warburg Pincus has agreed to acquire USD175m in common stock of Nuance Communications, which will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes as well as potential merger and acquisition activity.
Warburg Pincus, an investor in technology companies, has agreed to purchase 17,395,626 shares of Nuance common stock at a purchase price of USD10.06 per share, for an aggregate investment of USD175m.
In addition, Warburg Pincus will acquire a warrant to purchase 3,862,422 million shares of Nuance common stock upon the closing of the investment.
The warrant has an exercise price of USD11.57 per share and a four-year term. Warburg Pincus has also agreed not to sell any shares of Nuance common stock for a period of six months from the closing of the transaction, expected in early February 2009.
‘Warburg Pincus has enjoyed a long and rewarding relationship with Nuance and we’re pleased with the opportunity to invest further in support of the company,’ says the private equity firm’s managing director Pat Hackett. ‘Nuance has a track record of leadership and presents a high-quality investment opportunity in speech technologies and applications, markets that are demonstrating long-term growth.’
Separately, Nuance today announced with IBM that the two companies have entered into a licensing and technical services agreement to enhance and expand speech solutions designed to better serve enterprises, consumers, carriers, and partners worldwide.
Warburg Pincus currently has some USD30bn of assets under management including USD10bn available for investment in a range of sectors including healthcare, financial services, energy, technology, media, telecommunications, consumer, industrial and real estate.
Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 12 private equity funds which have invested more than USD29bn in approximately 600 companies in 30 countries.
Nuance is a provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world.
