Apple’s (AAPL) M&A Chief Held Secret Meeting with Tesla’s (TSLA) Musk: Report

Apple’s chief of mergers and acquisitions, Adrian Perica, met with Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk last spring, The San Francisco Chronicle reported in its online edition Sunday.

Perica met with Musk and probably Apple CEO Tim Cook at Apple (AAPL) headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., in the spring of 2013, right around the same time analysts suggested Apple acquire the electric car maker, according to the report, which cited an anonymous source.

“While a megadeal has yet to emerge…..such a high-level meeting between the two Silicon Valley giants involving their top dealmakers suggests Apple was very much interested in buying the electric car pioneer,” the report said.

This isn’t the first time an Apple acquisition of Tesla has been suggested. Last October Andaan Ahmad, a London-based analyst at German investment bank Berenberg, wrote an open letter to Apple chief executive Tim Cook and chairman Arthur Levinson where he asked the iPhone maker to consider buying Tesla.

Ahmad’s argument was that by acquiring the electric car maker, Apple could get the kind of revenue growth that won’t be sustainable from just smartphones and other mobile devices over the longer-term.

“In Elon Musk, you could strike up a partnership and obtain a new iconic partner to lead Apple’s innovation drive,” Ahmad wrote.”

Apparently, Apple already had the same idea as the unsolicited advice from Ahmad was given six months after the meeting between Musk and Perica had taken place.

The Chronicle also reported that Apple is looking at the medical devices business, specifically sensor technology that can predict heart attacks.

“The company wants to develop software and sensors that can predict heart attacks by identifying the sound blood makes as it tries to move through an artery clogged with plaque.”

Apple’s interest in electric cars and medical devices, two industries radically different from its core business of consumer electronics, underscores the tech giant’s tendencies in looking to take risks and expand beyond iPhones and iPads, the report said.

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