BURLINGTON (AP) - Nuance Communications Inc. said yesterday it will acquire VoiceSignal Technologies Inc. for $293 million in a deal that pairs the two Massachusetts-based developers of software that enables mobile devices to respond to voice commands.
Nuance is buying privately held VoiceSignal for 5.8 million Nuance shares and $204 million in cash. The total value is based on Monday's closing stock price of $15.28. The transaction, expected to close in the fourth quarter, is forecast to add $55 million to $57 million in revenue next year to Nuance, which reported nearly $389 million in revenue last fiscal year.
Shares of Nuance rose 46 cents, or 3 percent, to close at $15.74.
The purchase of Woburn-based VoiceSignal is the latest in a string of acquisitions by Burlington-based Nuance, which bought Dictaphone for $357 million last year and more recently completed smaller deals to acquire Focus Informatics Inc. and MobileVoiceControl.
VoiceSignal provides software that is embedded in mobile phones and other devices to enable users to dial phone numbers, dictate messages and complete other tasks using their voices rather than by punching in keys.
Nuance offers similar voice activation software for mobile devices as well as for automobiles and personal navigation systems.
The combined company's customers will include AT&T;, Motorola, Nokia, Sprint, Toyota and Ford.
"We see an expanding opportunity in helping consumers to use the powerful capabilities of their phones and to access the array of content and services available on the mobile Web," said Paul Ricci, Nuance's chairman and chief executive.
Nuance also makes speech-recognition software for personal computers and document imaging technology.
