Nuance to Buy Transcend Services for $29.50 a Share: News Alert

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Voice-recognition service provider Nuance Communications (NUAN) is buying medical transcription and speech editing services company Transcend Services (TRCR) for $300 million.

Nuance will pay $29.50 a share in cash for Transcend Services, which represents more than a 40% premium to the company's shares as of Tuesday close.

With Transcend, Nuance will look to add to its presence the market for voice transcription services for hospitals in the U.S. by offering voice-enabled ways to manage clinical documentation. The company says that the deal will add between $140 million and $150 million in revenue in the fiscal year 2013, or up to 9 cents in non-GAAP earnings per share.

On news of the deal, Transcend Services rose over 40% to $29.40 in pre-market trading, while Nuance shares rose nearly 2% to $25.99.

Last fall, Nuance bought app-maker Swype for $100 million. In June, it bought speech regognition software maker SVOX and also bought software maker Equitrac for $157 million.

"The acquisition of Transcend will expand the delivery of our innovative voice and Clinical Language Understanding solutions especially to small- and mid-size hospitals," said Nuance executive vice president Janet Dillione of the deal in a press release.

-- Written by Antoine Gara in New York