Apple Buys Beats: What Wall Street's Saying!

Apple Pays $3.2 Billion for Beats Headphones

After weeks of anticipation, Apple (AAPL_) finally did it, buying Beats Electronics for $3 billion in cash and stock, making an unusual purchase that brings another major brand under its umbrella for the first time, firmly putting CEO Tim Cook's stamp on the company.

The purchase will include Beats Music and Beats Electronics, which makes the popular Beats headphones, speakers and audio software. During the Re/Code conference this week, Beats (soon to be Apple) executive Jimmy Iovine noted that Beats Music has over 250,000 subscriptions for its streaming service and more than 5 million downloads.

As part of the deal, Apple is paying $2.6 billion in cash, and approximately $400 million in equity that will vest over time. An email to Apple was not immediately returned concerning Beats headquarters in Ireland, which may allow Apple to use some of its offshore cash to pay for the deal.

Upon the deal's closing, which Apple expects in its fiscal fourth-quarter, Iovine and Beats co-founder Dr. Dre (real name Andre Young) will join Apple. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals.

"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."

The deal comes at a time when music downloads, of which Apple is the leader with its iTunes platform, declined for the first time in 2013.

In an interview with Re/Code yesterday, CEO Cook said the deal is expected to be accretive starting in fiscal 2015. Beats is said to have generated over $1 billion in revenue in 2013, a number that has never been confirmed. Beats was privately owned prior to the deal with Apple, with private equity firm Carlyle owning a stake in the company.

Update: Beats announced a new pair of headphones the day after the acquisition was made official, the Solo2 headphones.

"The value of what the Beats team has built -and their ability to continue driving innovation and growth in the premium audio accessory market - is incredible," Carlyle Managing Director and Head of Consumer and Retail Sandra Horbach said in an emailed comment to TheStreet. "We have greatly enjoyed our partnership with Jimmy Iovine, Dr. Dre and their talented management and product teams. We wish them every continued success going forward."

Earlier this month, 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 timeframe was given.

Beats Electronics' music streaming app, Beats Music, is currently ranked 13th in Apple's App Store under the music section. That's up from 18th, when news of the deal first broke several weeks ago.

Following the deal, there was a lot of head scratching on Wall Street, with some analysts confused over the deal and what it means for the future of the company. Here's what a few of them had to say.

As of right now (AAPL) is in the green at 629.98!