By Krystal Hu
(Reuters) -Microsoft Corp is in advanced talks to buy artificial intelligence and speech technology company Nuance Communications Inc at about $16 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The price being discussed could value Nuance at about $56 a share, the source said, adding that an agreement could be announced as soon as Monday.
Bloomberg News, which first reported the deal between Nuance and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), said https://bloom.bg/2Qgfm7e talks are ongoing and the discussions could still fall apart.
Burlington, Massachusetts-based Nuance whose voice recognition technology helped launch Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s assistant Siri, makes software for sectors ranging from healthcare to the automotive industries.
The deal with Nuance would be Microsoft's second-biggest deal, after its $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) in 2016.
Microsoft and Nuance did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.