Apple buys the rest of Beats, deal appears to be done

Apple puts up a new page welcoming Beats to its family

Well, it looks like its official: Apple's plans to buy Beats are now a done deal. 

First, the deal took yet another step forward on Friday with the announcement from Vivendi that it had officially sold its 13% stake in Beats to Apple for $404 million. The company revealed that piece of information in exactly one sentence. Literally. 

That news came the same week that the European Commission approved the deal, citing the fact that the combined company would have plenty of competition in the headphones space, and noting that Beats Music does not even operate in Europe.

So, what's the next step? It seems like there isn't one. The deal is now done in the U.S., Apple has confirmed to TechCrunch, and Beats is officially part of Apple. 

Even without that confirmation, though, Apple was making it pretty clear that it now considers Beats to be under its umbrella, as it put up a new page on Friday entitled "Welcome to the family." 

Here is the company's statement, in full:

"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. Beats cofounders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre have created beautiful products that have helped millions of people deepen their connection to music. We’re delighted to be working with the team to elevate that experience even further.

And we can’t wait to hear what’s next."

After months of rumors, Apple revealed it was buying Beats for $3 billion, includes approximately $400 million that will vest over time, in May.

As per the acquisition, the Beats Music streaming service will become part of Eddy Cue’s services team, while Phil Schiller will handle headphones and speakers. In addition, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, the co-founders of Beats, will be joining Apple in an unspecified capacity.

Buying Beats will actually give Apple two streaming services. Last year the company launched the Pandora-like iTunes Radio, or "iRadio." Now Beats Music will give it a Spotify-like on-demand service, though Beats does not offer the same free ad-supported service that Spotify does.

VatorNews has reached out to Apple to independently confirm the finalization of the deal. We will update if we learn more. 

(Image source: apple.com/welcome-beats)