ScanSoft / Nuance
In 2004, Warburg Pincus invested in ScanSoft, a publicly-traded, leading provider of imaging solutions and speech enablement products for businesses and consumers. In 2005, Warburg Pincus made an additional investment to fund ScanSoft’s acquisition of Nuance Communications (Nuance), a worldwide provider of speech recognition solutions. Over the course of the firm’s investment, the Warburg Pincus team worked extensively with the company to add value in several ways. Following the Nuance acquisition, Warburg Pincus provided guidance and oversight in helping Nuance diligence accretive acquisition opportunities, providing significant incremental equity capital to continue to scale the business into a category leader in speech and image recognition. During Warburg Pincus’ hold period, Nuance acquired over 30 U.S. and international companies, including Dictaphone, eScription, PerSay, Swype, and Equitrac, among others. Furthermore, Warburg Pincus assisted Nuance in developing a vertically-focused sales strategy that helped the company establish a dominant market position in the healthcare and telecommunications sectors. Moreover, Warburg Pincus assisted Nuance in key executive hiring, including a GM of EMEA and as well as a GM of Enterprise from a former Warburg Pincus portfolio company. The Nuance investment underscores Warburg Pincus’s flexible investing capabilities, strong industry expertise and appetite for accretive M&A. Warburg Pincus exited the investment in 2013 following a series of public market sales of Nuance shares.
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