Microsoft’s 5 Biggest Acquisitions of All Time

3. Nuance Communications

Date of Purchase: April 2021

Amount Paid By Microsoft: $19.7 billion   

Nuance Communications is one of the more recent acquisitions of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). The deal represented the second-largest purchase ever by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) at the time and reflected a strategy of the firm to look for growth through these purchases. Before buying Nuance, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) had pursued deals to buy chat app Discord and social media app TikTok. Nuance Communications markets tools for speech recognition, a high-growth market segment. 

On the day the deal was announced, the share of Nuance Communications climbed by around 16%. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares also registered a small rally. In a press release announcing the deal, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) noted that the purchase would help improve the cloud products of the tech giant in the healthcare sector. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella, commenting on the deal, said “digital tech” was the “key” in the provider market of the future.