Apple confirmed its long-rumored acquisition of Beats Music and Beats Electronics, saying it will pay $3 billion for the companies.
Beats Music operates a music streaming service and Beats Electronics makes headphones, speakers and audio software. Apple will pay $2.6 billion upfront and approximately $400 million that will vest over time.
As part of the deal, Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple.
Apple expects the deal to close in its fiscal fourth quarter.
(More to come.)
Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com