BURLINGTON, MA – In a sign that Royal Philips Electronics may be refining its healthcare division, Nuance Communications has announced that it has acquired the Dutch electronic giant's Speech Recognition Systems business unit.

Vienna, Austria-based Philips Speech Recognition Systems (PSRS) is expected to fit in nicely with Burlington, Mass.-based Nuance's line of speech-driven clinical documentation and communication systems and expand Nuance's foothold overseas.

"Nuance has been disciplined and focused in our pursuit of the healthcare opportunity in North America, a strategy that has paid dividends both in our rapid growth and the broad adoption of our solutions," said Paul Ricci, Nuance's chairman and CEO, in a press release. "PSRS provides a solid foundation of customers, partners and European language-solutions as we expand our business in Europe and enable broader geographical leverage for Nuance's portfolio of healthcare products and services."

The deal is worth roughly $96.1 million (66 million Euros), comprised of a cash payment of roughly $31.6 million on September 26 and a deferred payment of roughly $64.5 million in cash on Sept. 21, 2009. Nuance officials expect the acquisition to add $37 million to $40 million in non-GAAP revenue in fiscal 2009 and $36 million to $39 million in GAAP for revenue after adjusting revenue lost in purchase accountings.

PSRS offers speech recognition software in 25 languages and more than 100 integration partners worldwide, including recent acquisitions in Germany and Spain.