The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) are opening an investigation into Microsoft’s acquisition of speech recognition company Nuance.
The CMA said in a statement that it’s looking into the purchase because of concerns that it could result in a “substantial lessening of competition” in the U.K. market.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) hereby gives notice pursuant to section 96(2A) of the Act that the merger notice provided by Microsoft Corporate and Nuance Communications Inc. in relation to the anticipated acquisition by Microsoft Corporation of Nuance Communications Inc. (the Merger) meets the requirements
of section 96(2) of the Act.The initial period defined in section 34ZA(3) of the Act in relation to the Merger will therefore commence on the first working day after the date of this notice, ie on 13 January 2022. The deadline for the CMA to announce its decision whether to refer the Merger for a Phase 2 investigation is therefore 9 March 2022.
Back in April of 2021, Microsoft and Nuance Communications entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Nuance for $56.00 per share.
Nuance is a trusted cloud and AI software leader representing decades of accumulated healthcare and enterprise AI experience. Mark Benjamin will remain CEO of Nuance, reporting to Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Cloud & AI at Microsoft.
Nuance’s solutions work seamlessly with core healthcare systems, including longstanding relationships with Electronic Health Records (EHRs), to alleviate the burden of clinical documentation and empower providers to deliver better patient experiences.
Nuance solutions are currently used by more than 55% of physicians and 75% of radiologists in the U.S., and used in 77% of U.S. hospitals. Nuance’s Healthcare Cloud revenue experienced 37% year-over-year growth in Nuance’s fiscal year 2020 (ended September 2020).
By augmenting the Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare with Nuance’s solutions, as well as the benefit of Nuance’s expertise and relationships with EHR systems providers, Microsoft will be better able to empower healthcare providers through the power of ambient clinical intelligence and other Microsoft cloud services.
The acquisition will double Microsoft’s total addressable market (TAM) in the healthcare provider space, bringing the company’s TAM in healthcare to nearly $500 billion. Nuance and Microsoft will deepen their existing commitments to the extended partner ecosystem, as well as the highest standards of data privacy, security and compliance.
Beyond healthcare, Nuance provides AI expertise and customer engagement solutions across Interactive Voice Response (IVR), virtual assistants, and digital and biometric solutions to companies around the world across all industries.
