Computing technology company Apple confirmed on Friday that it has closed the acquisition of US-based headphones production and music streaming company Beats in a deal said to be worth $3bn.
News of the Apple acquisition initially broke in May this year. As part of the takeover, media and telecommunications company Vivendi sold the 13% stake it held in Beats through its Universal Music subsidiary to Apple for $404m.
An analyst told Bloomberg the value of the stake almost doubled from September 2013 when it was estimated to be worth about $214m.
Founded by music industry moguls Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine in 2006, Beats is essentially made up of two companies.
Beats Electronics, which manufactures luxury headphones, secured $500m from private equity firm Carlyle Group in September 2013 in a deal that valued the company at approximately $1bn.
Smartphone maker paid $309m for a 50.1% stake in Beats Electronics in 2011 at a $600m valuation, but sold its stake back to the company in 2012 and 2013 for a total of about $415m.
Streaming service Beats Music separately raised $60m in funding in a March 2013 round led by Access Industries, the conglomerate that owns record company Warner Music, and assorted individual investors. It pulled in a further $60m in March 2014 from Access, Dre and Iovine, according to music industry news source Billboard.
A statement on Apple’s website on Friday read: “Today we are excited to officially welcome Beats Music and Beats Electronics to the Apple family. Music has always held a special place in our hearts, and we’re thrilled to join forces with a group of people who love it as much as we do.”