02-01-2008, 02:30 PM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Microsoft Proposes Acquisition of Yahoo!
"Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) today announced that it has made a proposal to the Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) 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. "We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft. "We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners.""
2007 was a busy year for acquisitions, and 2008 looks to continue the trend if Yahoo! accepts Microsoft's acquisition proposal valued at $44.6 billion. Yahoo! offers some great services for desktops and mobile devices and there's huge potential in integrating these into Microsoft's arsenal of complementary and competitive offerings. But there's also the risk of Yahoo!'s services biting the dust if Microsoft fails to use them advantageously. Such flops have happened in the history of corporate mergers and acquisitions and there's always a chance it'll happen again.
So, Jerry, what's it going to be? Accept or reject? And for the rest of you, drop your thoughts on this possible acquisition in this thread.
Update: The word from Yahoo! so far has been nothing more than confirmation that an evaluation of the proposal is taking place and that it's being performed in the context of Yahoo!'s strategic plans and maximized long-term value for shareholders. Check out their press release, corporate blog post, and FAQ for more. We'll keep you updated with the latest as it occurs.
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02-01-2008, 03:18 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 38
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I would think this might bring some added functionality to the Zune...you've heard of the Sandisk Sansa Connect which uses Yahoo services over wifi to do things like streaming radio, communicate with IM contacts...it's very plausible to think MS is looking to integrate Yahoo innovation into the Zune....sorry Sandisk!....lol
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02-01-2008, 04:49 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 431
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Doesn't Yahoo own the former Musicmatch service? Microsoft will own how many music players after this acquisition? Will they integrate the music stores between Yahoo and Zune? Should they? There are lots of questions but these seem to be good ones for this site to discuss.
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02-03-2008, 02:58 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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I think this is a bad move. I don't see much in the way of synergy here - I predict that if this happens, we'll end up with both Microsoft and Yahoo wasting two years arguing over which of their services are best of breed (and six months of meetings to decide what to name everything), and meanwhile Google will just keep improving their stuff. 
Microsoft would be better off taking a few billion dollars and funding some internal stealth start-ups, completely free of Microsoft corporate culture, to work on new stuff...
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