Mergers and acquisitions are an important element of strategy and innovation. Please read the news from April 2021 that Microsoft is acquiring a company called Nuance for a whopping $16 billion. Not only is this a large sum of money by itself, it is 23% over and above the current market capitalization of Nuance, indicating that Microsoft is very eager to have Nuance in its stable. Please read about the acquisition, you can start here.
In this discussion, I am hoping to learn the following from you (tackle any item you like, in any combination):
Why was Microsoft so keen too buy Nuance? The article hints that Apple was also interested.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlighted Nuance’s health care tools as the key driver behind the acquisition. But Microsoft is not a healthcare company. What is going on?
Why could Microsoft not innovate whatever Nuance has inside its own firm? After all, it has a lot of money, and can throw it at R&D?
Did Microsoft overpay?