Microsoft wants to purchase Yahoo
Microsoft has offered to buy the search engine company Yahoo for $44.6bn (£22.4bn) in cash and shares.The offer, contained in a letter to Yahoo’s board, is 62% above Yahoo’s closing share price on Thursday.Yahoo cut its revenue forecasts earlier this week and said it would have to spend an additional $300m this year trying to revive the company.It has been struggling in recent years to compete with Google, which has also been a competitor to Microsoft.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7222114.stmMicrosoft Bids $44.6 Billion for Yahoo
In a bold move to counter Google’s online pre-eminence, Microsoft said Friday that it had made an unsolicited offer to buy Yahoo for about $44.6 billion in a mix of cash and stock.If consummated, the deal would redraw the competitive landscape in Internet consumer services, where both Microsoft and Yahoo have both struggled to compete with Google.
http://nytimes.com/2008/02/01/technology/01cnd-subyahoo.html
http://iht.com/articles/2008/02/01/technology/msft.2-215420.php
http://iht.com/articles/2008/02/01/technology/01msft.phpWhy Yahoo! Can’t Fix Microsoft
Microsoft and Yahoo! have a problem. Online ads are booming, and they’re not. Microsoft’s money-losing online business posted sales growth of just 10.9% last quarter. Yahoo! does make money, but last quarter its sales rose a mere 9%, excluding traffic acquisition costs.
http://www.forbes.com/2007/05/04/yahoo-microsoft-google-tech-cx_bc_rr_0504microsoftyahoo2.htmlMicrosoft could face EU antitrust hurdles with Yahoo bid
A $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo is expected to place Microsoft at the mercy of the same aggressive European Union competition regulators that it has squared off with for the better part of this decade.The European Commission has already won a landmark ruling against Microsoft for abusing its market dominance in software by including its media player with the Windows operating system.
http://iht.com/articles/2008/02/01/business/regs.phpWith Yahoo, Microsoft faces antitrust fight once again
Microsoft’s proposed $44.6 billion purchase of Yahoo could subject the software giant to the kind of critical antitrust scrutiny from Washington it hasn’t experienced in nearly a decade.There are plenty of obstacles — including what Yahoo shareholders and board members think of the deal — to overcome before the federal government gets involved. But there are already signs that any review will be intense.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9862973-7.htmlMicrosoft/Yahoo ad threat to rivals
The combined businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo could provide a staunch competitor to Google in key international markets such as Asia and India in the global battle for control of the $80bn-a-year (£40.6bn) online advertising market.Google dominates the search advertising sector in key territories such as the US and UK and has moved in on the global online display ad market with the acquisition of DoubleClick.Microsoft, which has already spent $6bn on aQuantive for its display advertising delivery platform in a bid to catch up, will in one move with a Yahoo deal significantly bolster its business across the globe in a fight where non-US markets are rapidly gaining in importance.”The battleground is increasingly outside the US,” said Nick Thomas, European media analyst at JupiterResearch.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/feb/01/digitalmedia.advertisingPrivacy groups vow to fight Microsoft-Yahoo deal [IDG]
Privacy groups are promising a fight before U.S. regulatory agencies if Microsoft’s offer to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion is accepted, and the deal could face significant hurdles in Europe as well.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/02/01/Privacy-groups-vow-to-fight-Microsoft-Yahoo-deal_1.htmlMicrosoft and Yahoo’s shotgun marriage
ANALYSIS: Is this Bill Gates’ last big throw?Microsoft’s proposal to buy internet veteran Yahoo for a whopping $44.6bn (£22.4bn) certainly grabs the attention.But does it make business sense?In a way this won’t be the Microsoft founder’s problem. This summer Mr Gates will leave the company to work full-time on fighting global poverty and diseases like Aids, Malaria and TB.But the Microsoft managers who have to make it work will be asked whether this is a case of one failing giant trying to prop up another.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7222199.stmProfiles: Microsoft and Yahoo
Microsoft’s announcement that it would like to buy search engine Yahoo for $44.6bn (£22.4bn) is major news for the computer sector. Here we take a closer look at the two US giants.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7222431.stmCultural differences loom large in Microsoft-Yahoo
When you look at the cultural differences between Microsoft and Yahoo, you don’t need to look much further than a floor plan.Microsoft has been a company of offices, where workers toil individually at their piece of a collective project. Yahoo, by contrast is a Silicon Valley archetype where workers sit in cubicles and tend to work collaboratively.
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9862908-56.htmlChart: A Microsoft-Yahoo combo by the numbers
Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo would create one of the world’s largest Web companies, when examined using several different metrics.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6228821.html
http://www.news.com/2100-1014_3-6228821.htmlFAQ: What’s next for Microsoft’s Yahoo bid?
Microsoft faces several financial and legal hurdles on its way to wooing Yahoo to accept its $44.6 billion buyout bid. Here’s a brief FAQ explaining some of the reasoning behind Microsoft’s actions Friday and what may be on the horizon for the two Google rivals in the near future.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6228772.html
http://www.news.com/2100-1014_3-6228772.htmlMicrosoft Bids $44.6 Billion for Yahoo
Microsoft Corp. has offered to buy struggling Internet search provider Yahoo for $44.6 billion, a merger that would combine two of the technology world’s most well-known names into a potentially potent competitor for Google in the lucrative Web search and advertising market.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020100750.htmlMicrosoft offers to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion
Microsoft has offered to buy Yahoo for around $44.6 billion in cash and shares, to better compete with Google in the market for online services.CEO Steve Ballmer made the offer in a letter to Yahoo’s board of directors on Thursday, telling the board that he would release the letter Friday morning.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/02/01/Microsoft-offers-to-buy-Yahoo-for-44-billion_1.htmlMicrosoft Proposes To Buy Yahoo For $31 Share, In $44.6-Billion Deal
Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has made a proposal to the Yahoo! Inc. Board of Directors to acquire all the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 representing a total equity value of approximately $44.6 billion. Microsoft’s proposal would allow the Yahoo! shareholders to elect to receive cash or a fixed number of shares of Microsoft common stock, with the total consideration payable to Yahoo! shareholders consisting of one-half cash and one-half Microsoft common stock. The offer represents a 62 percent premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock on Jan. 31, 2008.
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206101782