Apple Will Buy Beats for $3 Billion

The Apple/Beats Electronics deal is now official, and Apple says it will spend up to $3 billion to buy the headphone maker and streaming music company.

Why? Because Apple likes the businesses Beats has already built, and wants to make new stuff with the help of its employees, says CEO Tim Cook.

“We could build about anything that you could dream of. But that’s not the question,” he said in an interview with Re/code. “The thing that Beats provides us is a head start, and it provides us with incredible people, kindred spirits.”

Apple says it will keep the Beats hardware brand intact, as well as the Beats Music streaming service. It also says Beats Electronics co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join the company as full-time employees.

Apple says the deal will close by the end of its fiscal year, which means by the end of September 2014. It says the deal will be accretive in its next fiscal year.