UPDATE: Nuance to Acquire Varolii; Terms Undisclosed

Nuance Communications NUAN today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Varolii, the leading provider of cloud-based outbound customer engagement solutions. The Varolii platform is used by many of the world's largest companies to manage outbound customer service communications via automated phone, email and text messages, reaching an estimated one out of every five American adults each year. The combination of Varolii and Nuance will create a comprehensive cloud-based solution that brings together the best of inbound and outbound customer service, resulting in a complete, scalable, secure and cost-effective platform. Nuance's customer service solutions support many of today's largest brands, including AT&T, Barclay's Wealth & Investment Management, FedEx, Geico, Telstra, T-Mobile, USAA and others. Nuance's solutions are available across voice, mobile and Web channels, allowing consumers to engage how, when and where they want, conveniently and effectively. Today, Nuance's customer service solutions process more than 12 billion customer interactions each year across more than 6,500 organizations including 75% of the Fortune 100. The combination of Nuance's world-class customer service solutions and Varolii's Customer Engagement Cloud will accelerate Nuance's strategy to transform the customer service experience through conversations that are engaging, personalized and proactive. Varolii will bring a full outbound communication portfolio to the Nuance OnDemand Customer Service Cloud, which provides inbound hosted IVR (interactive voice response) and Nina virtual assistant solutions for mobile and Web applications. Varolii also will extend Nuance's market leadership in cloud-based customer service through the addition of over 400 deployments with enterprise organizations, many of which have implemented complementary solutions from Nuance, including Alaska Airlines, Southern California Edison, SunTrust, and Time Warner Cable. This acquisition will strengthen and broaden Nuance's participation in the growing customer service solutions market. According to Forrester Research, 57% of U.S. consumers had unsatisfactory service interactions in the past 12 months and 80% of customer service decision-makers say that improving their customer experience is one of their top two customer service goals. Forrester buyer surveys indicate that 25% of enterprises are considering proactive outbound as a key contact center investment in the next year and that proactive outbound will enjoy excellent growth rates as more and more enterprises adopt it. (i) “The greatest opportunity to deliver superior service is when you can anticipate a need and proactively contact the customer in a personalized and intelligent way,” said Robert Weideman, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Nuance Enterprise Division. “The combination of Nuance and Varolii not only represents the best of inbound customer service with the best in outbound customer communications, but the opportunity to deliver automated yet natural conversations with customers that are more compelling and effective.” “Varolii has been trusted as a leading provider of repeatable customer engagement applications across six B2C-intensive markets, enabling leading companies to reduce costs, increase customer reach and improve customer outcomes,” said David McCann, President and Chief Executive Officer of Varolii. “We're excited to become a part of Nuance's comprehensive multi-channel vision.” The transaction has been approved by both companies' Boards of Directors and is expected to close next week. About Nuance Communications, Inc Nuance Communications, Inc. is a leading provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with devices and systems. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance's proven applications. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com. Trademark reference: Nuance and the Nuance logo are trademarks, registered trademarks or brands of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States of America and other countries. All other companies or product names are the property of the respective owners. Safe Harbor and Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this press release regarding the expected benefits of the Varolii acquisition, anticipated future combined operations, products and services, and any other statements regarding future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words “believes,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “expects,” or “estimates” or similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including: the transaction is subject to closing conditions that if not met or waived could cause the transaction not to close; the ability of Nuance to successfully integrate Varolii's operations, product offerings and employees; the failure to retain customers and/or key employees; and the other factors described in Nuance's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012 and quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2013 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Nuance disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release.
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