Antitrust Group Helps Speech Recognition Software Developer Acquire Rival
WASHINGTON, DC — On March 28, 2000, Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products, N.V. (L&H) reached an agreement with Dragon Systems, Inc. pursuant to which L&H agreed to acquire all of Dragon Systems stock in exchange for L&H stock worth in excess of $500 million at the time of the agreement. L&H retained McDermott Will & Emery to provide antitrust guidance with respect to its acquisition of Dragon Systems, Inc. Both L&H and Dragon Systems are leaders in the area of speech recognition technology and software, which enables computers and other devices to recognize speech and to use speech as a method of interface with those devices. Both L&H and Dragon develop solutions for voice-enabled applications in a variety of areas, including telephony, automotive, consumer electronics and other areas where such applications are embedded in microprocessors, as well as for continuous dictation for personal computers.
McDermott Will & Emery, led by partner Jon Dubrow, successfully represented L&H before the antitrust regulators and the transaction was allowed to proceed without a Second Request being issued. The waiting period on this matter expired on May 19, 2000.
