NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Apple has agreed to buy Beats Electronics for $3 billion in cash/stock, as the consumer electronics giant makes a historic purchase, adding another major brand to its umbrella for the first time. The purchase will include Beats Music and Beats Electronics, which makes the popular Beats headphones, speakers and audio software. As part of the deal, Apple is paying $2.6 billion in purchase price, and approximately $400 million that will vest over time. "Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO in the press release. "That's why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world." "I've always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple," said Beats executive Jimmy Iovine, who will join Apple. "The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple's unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple's deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special." Upon closing of the deal, Iovine and beats co-founder Dr. Dre will join Apple. "Music is such an important part of Apple's DNA and always will be," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "The addition of Beats will make our music lineup even better, from free streaming with iTunes Radio to a world-class subscription service in Beats, and of course buying music from the iTunes Store as customers have loved to do for years."Apple said it expects the deal to close in the fiscal fourth quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approvals. Last week, the Financial Times broke the story that Apple was in deep negotiations to buy Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion to bring the headphone maker and streaming music service under Apple's roof in Cupertino, Calif. Reports suggested that the deal could be announced soon, but no time frame was given. Beats Electronics' music streaming app, Beats Music, is currently ranked 18th in Apple's App Store under the music section. Also Read: Beats Doesn't Make Sense For Apple --Written by Chris Ciaccia in New York >Contact by Email. Follow @Chris_Ciaccia // 0;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); // ]]>
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