Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV is paying up to $28m for a division of Fonix Corp that offers dictation products aimed at radiologists. The acquisition gives L&H the Powerscribe radiology and emergency medicine systems, a product aimed at physicians constantly on the move.
L&H has targeted the estimated $6bn spent every year in transcribing medical notes as a major target for its speech products. It plans to replace the speech engine within Powerscribe with its own technology and believes it can use its international expertise to build versions in different languages.
Salt Lake City, Utah-based Fonix Corp is a spectacularly unsuccessful company that produced a first quarter loss of $9.2m on revenue of just $1.1m. With a share price of $0.71, it faces a constant battle with Nasdaq to keep its listing.
The division it is selling to L&H is the result of its $24m acquisition of Articulate Systems Inc last September. L&H is paying $24m in cash and a further $4m earn-out spread over two years.
