U.S. regulators have approved Microsoft’s nearly $20 billion acquisition of imaging vendor Nuance Communications, the two revealed in a recent filing.
June 1 marked the end of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. With that, Microsoft and Nuance have cleared a key hurdle to completing their blockbuster merger, company officials said in an update shared with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Redmond, Washington-based tech giant in April announced its intent to purchase Nuance, which sells solutions for sharing medical images and processing radiology reports using artificial intelligence. Microsoft officials said AI is a key part of its decision to acquire the Burlington, Massachusetts, firm.
Nuance also offers products outside of healthcare, including virtual assistants and biometric solutions. Its technology is currently used by 55% of all physicians in the country, 75% of radiologists, and 77% of all U.S. hospitals. Its stock was up more than 2% this week amid the positive news.
Microsoft said back in April that it hopes to close the $19.7 billion transaction by the end of 2021.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.