Speech recognition firm Nuance Communications of Burlington, MA, has extended the deadline for its offer to acquire Canadian mobile communications software developer Zi Corp. of Calgary, Alberta.
Nuance on December 30 said that it was extending the deadline for the deal from January 2 to January 16. The company in August submitted an unsolicited bid to acquire Zi at a price of 40¢ (U.S.) per share. Nuance said the offer represents a 25% premium over the closing price of Zi shares on the Nasdaq exchange as of August 13, when it first floated the bid.
In a letter dated December 11, Zi's board of directors urged shareholders to reject the bid. The current Nuance offer is lower than previous offers made by Nuance prior to the recent stock market downturn, and the bid does not meet the valuation of the company as recently assessed by a financial advisor to the firm.
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