Apple's Acquisition of Beats Electronics

On 28/05/2014, Apple Inc. announced an agreement to acquire Beats Electronics and its streaming service Beats Music for a total of $3 billion. The deal included approximately $2.6 billion in cash and about $400 million in Apple stock. Beats Electronics, founded by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, produced premium headphones, speakers, and operated the Beats Music subscription streaming platform. Apple said the acquisition would expand its presence in music hardware and subscription streaming services. As part of the agreement, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre joined Apple following completion of the acquisition. Apple stated that Beats Music would complement its existing iTunes ecosystem and help accelerate development of subscription based streaming offerings. The transaction combined Beats’ hardware business with its music service, giving Apple both a consumer audio brand and a curated streaming platform. The deal closed later in 2014 after regulatory approvals were completed. The $3 billion purchase represented Apple’s largest acquisition at the time. The acquisition occurred during a period when streaming services were gaining popularity in the music industry. Apple later integrated elements of Beats Music into Apple Music, which launched in June 2015.