IT, deals, Software

Nuance Makes New Bid for Zi

Ryan McBride 11/26/08

Nuance Communications (NASDAQ:NUAN), the Burlington, MA-based speech recognition powerhouse, today announced an offer to buy Zi Corporation (NASDAQ:ZICA), a Calgary, Canada-based provider of software to speed text entry on mobile devices, for 40 cents per share or $20 million in cash, which is a 38 percent premium on the closing price of Zi common stock on Tuesday. Wade wrote in August that Zi rejected Nuance’s earlier bid to buy Zi for double the amount of the current offer (or 80 cents per share) in this post. Nuance’s recent offer expires Dec. 31, 2008.