gagquin Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 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. In a conference call, Microsoft's Kevin Johnson said that the combination of the two companies would create an entity that could better compete with Google."Today the market [for online search and advertising] is increasingly dominated by one player," he said. Chairman quit Yahoo confirmed that it has received an unsolicited offer and said that its board would evaluate the proposal, "carefully and promptly in the context of Yahoo's strategic plans and pursue the best course of action to maximize long-term value for shareholders."If Yahoo accepted the offer, competition authorities both in the US and the European Union would be likely to investigate the tie-up.Yahoo chief executive, Jerry Yang, announced on Tuesday that he intended to lay off 1,000 staff as part of a restructuring plan. Terry Semel, who stepped down as chief executive last June, also quit as non-executive chairman on Thursday.Microsoft said that Yahoo shareholders could choose to receive either cash or shares.Yahoo shares have fallen 46% since reaching a year-high of $34.08 in October. On Friday they closed almost 48% higher.Microsoft closed 6.6% lower while Google shares fell 8.6%."Ultimately this corporate marriage was forced by the rise of Google, which has grown into a serious competitor for both Microsoft as a software company and Yahoo as an internet portal," said Tim Weber, business editor of the BBC News website. "It is a shotgun marriage, but the person holding the shotgun is Google." 'Exorbitant premium' According to its letter to Yahoo, Microsoft attempted to enter talks about a deal a year ago, but was rebuffed because Yahoo was confident about the "potential upside" presented by the reorganisation and operational activities that were being put in place at the time."A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved," Microsoft's letter said.But there has been some concern about the price that Microsoft is offering." This smacks of desperation from Microsoft who have consistently failed to achieve a meaningful online presence" Matt, UK "To me, the premium seems exorbitant, for what is a dwindling business," said Tim Smalls from the brokerage firm Execution LLC."I personally don't see how the synergies of Microsoft-Yahoo is going to take on Google." Other analysts were more enthusiastic about the offer. "It is a fantastic offer. It is game on," said Colin Gillis from Canaccord Adams."This consolidates the marketplace down to Google versus Microsoft. These two companies will be going head to head."iNfo@. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marik Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 since I don't wanna make another thread I'll post in this one*Update*Microsoft proposes yesterday 44,6 billion dollars to buy Yahoo. Whereas the Yahoo action closed yesterday with 19,18 dollars, the offer of the firm of Redmond is rather generous: 31 dollars per action.It is the largest offer ever carried out by Microsoft, for a company whose action lowered almost 32 % these the last 12 months. However, the strategy of Microsoft could also prove very effective against Google, a giant who should absolutely be competed with.Microsoft has under discussion explained being with Yahoo for Thursday to speak about a possible fusion of the two firms. An idea which the investors seem well to like, since the Yahoo action increased today by 59 %, towards 29,95 dollars in the preliminary negotiations of market before the opening of the American purse. Opposite, the action of Google loses 1,2 % compared to its value with the closing of the market Thursday.Yahoo is not as well as possible of its form in this moment. The last financial reporting’s of the firm, published last Tuesday, show quarterly earnings in fall, and the firm announced at the same time its intention to become lighter of a thousand of employees. View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjall Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 Go Gates Go, please provide me with couple of bucks please in the process lol....... :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoKz Posted February 4, 2008 Share Posted February 4, 2008 they are just gonna get BIGGER... :( oh no they gonna know more with the yahoo searches and evrything more index for them and more info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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