It looks like Nuance Communications
The newest addition to the armory is none other than Swype, maker of the popular virtual keyboard where you swipe your finger between letters instead of tapping. Think of it like the cursive of typing on an onscreen keyboard. It has been steadily gaining traction on Google
The price tag for the purchase rang up to $102.5 million in cash, with a $77.5 million down payment and the rest due in 18 months.
Swype isn't the only text-input-related acquisition Nuance has made. Back in 2007, it picked up Tegic Communications, maker of T9 predictive text software found on feature phones, from AOL
Nuance's specialty is voice recognition and is supposedly heavily integrated into Apple's
This official Fool recommendation is also a serial acquirer, which adds another level of complexity to sorting through its books. As of the most recent quarter, Nuance's balance sheet was carrying nearly $3.1 billion in goodwill and net intangible assets out of its total assets of almost $4.1 billion. Those figures alone don't necessarily indicate weakness, but it's certainly something to be mindful of since they are very subjective.
To find out more about why this stock is an official Stock Advisor recommendation, click here to try it free for 30 days. While you're at it, add Nuance to your watchlist to see if it continues its streak of acquisitions.