[url=\"http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080201.wmsyahoo_staff0201/BNStory/Business/\"]Microsoft tables $44.6-billion offer for Yahoo[/url]
MATT HARTLEY and TAVIA GRANT AND JOHN PARTRIDGE
Globe and Mail
Toronto — — Microsoft Corp. [MSFT-Q] revealed plans for a surprise $44.6-billion (U.S.) cash and stock takeover offer for struggling Internet search pioneer Yahoo! Inc. [YHOO-Q], in a move that would not only dramatically increase its share of the global Web search business but would have serious implications for top dog Google Inc. [GOOG-Q]
The world's largest software company made the announcement Friday morning after sending a letter to the Yahoo board of directors dated Jan. 31. Microsoft is offering Yahoo shareholders $31 per share for all outstanding share of Yahoo! common stock, which represents a 62 per cent premium above the price that Yahoo! shares closed at last night.
Yahoo confirmed that it had received the offer and said its board would consider the deal.
Yahoo said in a statement 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.”
The announcement sent Yahoo's share price up 43 per cent by noon in New York, up $8.45 to trade at $27.63. Google shares meanwhile fell more than 8 per cent, losing $48.80 to trade at $515.50. Microsoft shares were off 6 per cent, at $30.65 a share.
“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,” Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said in a statement. “We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners.”
Both Yahoo and Microsoft trail Google in overall Internet searches and advertising revenues generated from keyword-based search advertising and have struggled to catch up. While Microsoft has recently made a series of investments dedicated to building its online search-based advertising business — most notably the $240-million agreement it struck with the social networking company Facebook Inc. in September — Yahoo has floundered as it has begun to emphasize a push towards the mobile search market.
In a conference call with analysts, Mr. Ballmer called the proposed deal “the next major milestone in Microsoft's company-wide transformation to embrace on-line services over all.”
Microsoft and Yahoo, he said, “really do share a vision of the potential of on-line search and advertising” and combining the two companies will result in “an incredibly efficient and competitive offering for consumers, for advertisers and for publishers.”
He said Microsoft has been talking to Yahoo management about a deal “off and on for 18 months,” but that Yahoo said a year ago that “it wasn't really the right time” to discuss an acquisition.
“We believed then in the benefits of combining the two companies and we believe now in those benefits more than ever,” he said. “We're very confident [this] is the right path for Microsoft and Yahoo.”
He also dismissed with a curt “no” an analyst's question as to whether this means Microsoft would halt plans for other major acquisitions in such areas as enterprise software.
Asked during the call about potential competing bids, perhaps from media companies, Microsoft corporate counsel Brad Smith said “obviously any number of companies might have an interest.”
However, he also said Microsoft has made a “very compelling offer” and that “the reaction from publishers, which includes a lot of the media companies, has been very positive.
“We've been getting unsolicited feedback this morning from advertisers and publishers that this . . .will create a more compelling competitor in the marketplace.”
The one company not in a position to launch a rival bid, Mr. Smith argued, is Google, which, he said already has a nearly 75 per cent share of the world-wide market for on-line paid search.
“Given its super-dominant market share, Google is clearly prevented by anti-trust laws from buying Yahoo or this [on-line search and advertising] business from Yahoo,” he said.
Kevin Johnson, who heads Microsoft's platforms and services division said on-line advertising is now a $40-billion-a-year business and is expected to reach nearly $80-billion within the next three years.
“So it is a significant growth opportunity and a critical element of the business model for monetization of consumer internet services...that we create and the internet services of our partners,” he said.
The market is currently “dominated by one big player,” Mr. Johnson said without naming Google.
“By combining the assets of Microsoft and Yahoo, we can offer a more competitive choice for consumers, advertisers and publishers,” he said.
“The industry will be better served by having a more credible alternative in the areas of search and advertising.”
Microsoft said that by combining, the two companies could save “at least $1-billion” a year in costs, while benefiting from economies of scale, accelerated innovation through the combination of their engineering talent as well as operational efficiencies.
Yahoo has faced criticism in the past for the way it has handled its core Web search and advertising businesses, which ultimately led to the shakeup at the executive level that landed Jerry Yang in the top post.
Yahoo investors would be smart to accept the offer since it will be difficult for the company to reach a $31 stock price based on its own organic growth, according to Jeffrey Lindsay, senior analyst for the Internet at Sanford C. Bernstein in New York.
“From a pure investor perspective we think its an excellent deal,” he said. “But possible resistance might come from Yahoo management because Jerry Yang and [co-founder] David Filo own a lot of the shares personally, and secondly there's the possibility of someone else stepping in and making a counter offer.”
Advertisers are likely to look more favourably upon a Yahoo-Microsoft alliance, since a consortium of their paid search businesses would command about 20 per cent of the market and reach a much broader combined audience, he said.
“That is much more attractive to advertisers than two separate pieces of 10 per cent of the market,” Mr. Lindsay said.
David Cockfield, who helps manage $1.8-billion at Leon Frazer Associates in Toronto and holds some Microsoft shares, questioned the cultural fit of the two companies and said he wants to know more about where the massive acquisition fits into Microsoft's game plan.
However, he also said the proposed takeover shows there is still room to make deals despite the dismal start for stock markets in 2008.
“It's probably going to give the general market a boost, and cause people to start looking around,” he said. “It underlines the fact that looking at the US corporate sector...outside of the financial area they're in very good shape, they have huge amounts of cash available.”
This means there likely will be more “straight corporate deals rather than the fancy financial market deals where the hedge funds are involved,” Mr. Cockfield said.
That includes the tech sector. “All of these guys are multi-nationals, they're doing lots of business outside the US, they're at a size where growth prospects within their particular sector may be somewhat limited, so the takeover route becomes attractive. And they have the money — that's the important thing. They have the dough burning a hole in their pockets.”
With reports from AP and Reuters.
More Globe and Mail articles about the bid:
[url=\"http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080201.wvoices0201/BNStory/Business\"]The Buzz On the Blockbuster Bid[/url]
[url=\"http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080131.wgtSemel0131/BNStory/Business\"]Yahoo's Semel steps down as chairman [/url]
[url=\"http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080201.wmicrosoft-justice0201/BNStory/Business\"]U.S. officials ‘interested' in reviewing Microsoft bid[/url]
[url=\"http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080201.WBmingram20080201085520/BNStory/Business\"]Ingram 2.0: MSFT and YHOO: Who's holding the shotgun?[/url]
[url=\"http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080201.WBcyberia20080201104330/BNStory/Business\"]Kapica's Cyberia: Incredible timing[/url]
Microsoft To Buy Yahoo?
Moderators: Moderator, Global Moderator
Microsoft To Buy Yahoo?
[color=\"#41211C\"]It takes years to build up trust and only seconds to destroy it
[/color]
Microsoft To Buy Yahoo?
And thus the war continues. Open source companies come together, but don't buy each other out. Proprietary software companies fight each other, and buy each other out PLUS try to over take open source. That's what 3/4 of this move is about, the other 1/4 is that Microsoft sucks at search.
Microsoft goals - make the industry impossible to enter into(bad for consumers, good for business), and destroy open source
Open Source goals - take down proprietary software one at a time (not one company, one industry at a time ie. FireFox vs IE), make the enter into market easy (good for consumers, bad for business)
Microsoft goals - make the industry impossible to enter into(bad for consumers, good for business), and destroy open source
Open Source goals - take down proprietary software one at a time (not one company, one industry at a time ie. FireFox vs IE), make the enter into market easy (good for consumers, bad for business)
-
NightStorm
- Administrator
- Posts: 779
- Joined: Mon May 17, 2004 4:05 pm
Microsoft To Buy Yahoo?
Just an idea of how PCWorld views the upcoming potential Buyout/Merger/Takeover of Microsoft and Yahoo...
[url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,142114/article.html?tk=nl_dnxnws\"]Source[/url]
If Microsoft Buys Yahoo: What We'd Love--and Hate
Put together two giants like these and there are bound to be some good results and some nasty ones. Here are 11 of our dreams and nightmares.
Tom Spring
[color=\"#808080\"]Friday, February 01, 2008 03:45 PM PST[/color]
It's the year 2010. Microsoft owns Yahoo and has just changed the name of Flickr to Microsoft Flickr Live Photo-Sharing Service for Digital Camera Enthusiasts. The service is still free, but Windows Vista users will have to validate their copy of Vista as "genuine" first to use it. What has Microsoft wrought?
That's just one of the nightmares we can foresee from a Microsoft-Yahoo merger. But some good things could ensue for computer users too. Here's what we'd love - and hate - to see happen.
Love: Sending a Wake-Up Call to Google
Google has been untouchable in many aspects when it comes to search, Web innovations, and free cool services such as Google Maps. But perhaps Google has grown too complacent. While we are waiting to see what becomes of Google's mobile strategy, [url=\"http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/006072.html\"]we're less enthralled by services such as Knol[/url]. We want to see the combined force of Microsoft and Yahoo give Google an honest run for its money when it comes to innovative online services.
Hate: Goodbye, Beloved Services
The shuttering of Yahoo or MSN services is something we'd hate to see (actually, we wouldn't shed any tears over Windows Live), but it's inevitable some will get the axe, given the [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,142107-c,mergersacquisitions/article.html\"]overlapping services owned by Microsoft and Yahoo[/url]. The merged company would simply create too many redundant services and the odds are some of our beloved services would be killed. Branded services such as Yahoo Mail and Hotmail would survive, but there is a good chance they'd share one development team. Over time the services would become virtually identical, sharing features, functions, bugs, and limitations. Microsoft's instant messaging system sneezes, for example, and Yahoo Messenger catches a cold.
Love: Yahoo Boosts Microsoft Live
We think both behemoths could learn a lot from the other especially when it comes to the look, feel, and usability of Web pages and services. We'd like to see Windows Live integrated into simpler interfaces. Right now there is [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139369-c,webservices/article.html\"]Windows Live[/url] and [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/128390/microsoft_office_live_puts_your_business_online.html\"]Microsoft Office Live Small Business[/url]. Both are not tied to directly either to the Windows OS or Microsoft Office. Both Microsoft Live sites seem so disconnected.
Yahoo was best in the early days at keeping the interface simple on services such as Yahoo Travel. Today's Yahoo can't match the minimalism of many Google offerings, but it still has designs that are simpler and easier to use than many counterparts at Microsoft.
Hate: Microsoft Yahoo Chaos
Combining the two giants will create confusion. Could you use your MSN Messenger ID to login to Yahoo Mail? Will your Passport be accepted at Yahoo's border?
Love: Uber Media Site
We'd like to see MSN-Yahoo team with NBC (and related partners) and a variety of Internet TV startups to make a one-stop destination for video content. [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139502/article.html\"]Good sites like Hulu.com[/url] and other Web-based video on demand sites are spread across the Web in a hodgepodge manner with no central site to serve as an online media master.
Yahoo is much more a traditional media company than Google at this stage and already offers great text and some TV news. Couple Yahoo with MSN and [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130744/article.html\"]Microsoft's Web technologies (such as Silverlight)[/url] and you could see the Web's first media powerhouse.
Hate: Two Big Brothers are Worse than One
[url=\"http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/004110.html\"]Google is looking to gobble up DoubleClick[/url], which has some not so positive privacy implications. Now if Microsoft buys Yahoo what Google doesn't know about you Microsoft will. It just is a bit too creepy to think of our digital footprints being so completely tracked. Live Search, Flickr, Yahoo News, MSN LIfestyle channel. With all its data it would have on us, Microsoft could come up with a personalized probability data feed that might be shockingly accurate.
Love: A True Search Competitor
Yahoo and MSN will finally give Google a run for its money when it comes to search. Google owns 57 percent of the search engine market, and Yahoo and Microsoft own together 34 percent, according to [url=\"http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3627654\"]Search Engine Watch[/url] . Given the combined search knowhow of Microsoft and Yahoo we'd like to see both breathe some new life into search technology. Yahoo already has some [url=\"http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/005584.html\"]interesting tools such as Search Assistant and Shortcuts[/url] that can make searching easier than Google. Check out [url=\"http://club.live.com/insiderguide.aspx?icid=livehp_allinone\"]Microsoft's Live Search Club[/url] to see how Live Search is getting smarter. Together we'd like to see Microsoft and Yahoo make search results more relevant and smarter.
Love: A Mobile Marriage
Microsoft and Yahoo combined would have a dynamite mobile offering without much heavy lifting. We'd like to see a marriage of Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system and its mobile business focus merged with Yahoo. [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141098/article.html\"]We love Yahoo's mobile offerings[/url] and its mobile search, maps, and email. Yahoo already has close ties to mobile carriers so it might not take long for the strengths of both mobile teams to trickle down to our cell phones.
Hate: A Mobile Monopoly
If the mobile offerings from Microhoo! are too strong, they could strangle [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139293/article.html\"]Google's Android mobile operating system[/url] at birth. And that would be a shame, since the open source effort promises users [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141976-page,1/article.html\"]a more customizable phone than they've ever had[/url]. Fortunately, Android has some significant backers of its own and a nascent developers' community (Mobile Handset Alliance). But given Microsoft's industry clout and its cutthroat competitive spirit and Yahoo's cozy relationship with carriers, Google's Android platform could be in for a big fight.
Love: Yahoo Maps Get Less Lame
[url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,132362-c,travelsites/article.html\"]Live Maps seems to be one of the few Microsoft web apps that are actually good[/url], and it may actually be better than Google Maps. (It certainly seems more up to date.) Meanwhile, Yahoo Maps suffers from a lame interface and more limited view options.
Love: YaHotmail!
Neither Yahoo Mail nor Hotmail is all that compelling on its own, but if [url=\"http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/004321.html\"]Hotmail's new interface[/url] were applied to [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136413-page,1/article.html\"]Yahoo's mail service[/url] (which doesn't kill your account so quickly if you don't log in), it might actually be worth using.
For more on this story, go to our [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/ic/yahoomerger/\"]special page on the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo merger[/url].
[url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,142114/article.html?tk=nl_dnxnws\"]Source[/url]
If Microsoft Buys Yahoo: What We'd Love--and Hate
Put together two giants like these and there are bound to be some good results and some nasty ones. Here are 11 of our dreams and nightmares.
Tom Spring
[color=\"#808080\"]Friday, February 01, 2008 03:45 PM PST[/color]
It's the year 2010. Microsoft owns Yahoo and has just changed the name of Flickr to Microsoft Flickr Live Photo-Sharing Service for Digital Camera Enthusiasts. The service is still free, but Windows Vista users will have to validate their copy of Vista as "genuine" first to use it. What has Microsoft wrought?
That's just one of the nightmares we can foresee from a Microsoft-Yahoo merger. But some good things could ensue for computer users too. Here's what we'd love - and hate - to see happen.
Love: Sending a Wake-Up Call to Google
Google has been untouchable in many aspects when it comes to search, Web innovations, and free cool services such as Google Maps. But perhaps Google has grown too complacent. While we are waiting to see what becomes of Google's mobile strategy, [url=\"http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/006072.html\"]we're less enthralled by services such as Knol[/url]. We want to see the combined force of Microsoft and Yahoo give Google an honest run for its money when it comes to innovative online services.
Hate: Goodbye, Beloved Services
The shuttering of Yahoo or MSN services is something we'd hate to see (actually, we wouldn't shed any tears over Windows Live), but it's inevitable some will get the axe, given the [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,142107-c,mergersacquisitions/article.html\"]overlapping services owned by Microsoft and Yahoo[/url]. The merged company would simply create too many redundant services and the odds are some of our beloved services would be killed. Branded services such as Yahoo Mail and Hotmail would survive, but there is a good chance they'd share one development team. Over time the services would become virtually identical, sharing features, functions, bugs, and limitations. Microsoft's instant messaging system sneezes, for example, and Yahoo Messenger catches a cold.
Love: Yahoo Boosts Microsoft Live
We think both behemoths could learn a lot from the other especially when it comes to the look, feel, and usability of Web pages and services. We'd like to see Windows Live integrated into simpler interfaces. Right now there is [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139369-c,webservices/article.html\"]Windows Live[/url] and [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/128390/microsoft_office_live_puts_your_business_online.html\"]Microsoft Office Live Small Business[/url]. Both are not tied to directly either to the Windows OS or Microsoft Office. Both Microsoft Live sites seem so disconnected.
Yahoo was best in the early days at keeping the interface simple on services such as Yahoo Travel. Today's Yahoo can't match the minimalism of many Google offerings, but it still has designs that are simpler and easier to use than many counterparts at Microsoft.
Hate: Microsoft Yahoo Chaos
Combining the two giants will create confusion. Could you use your MSN Messenger ID to login to Yahoo Mail? Will your Passport be accepted at Yahoo's border?
Love: Uber Media Site
We'd like to see MSN-Yahoo team with NBC (and related partners) and a variety of Internet TV startups to make a one-stop destination for video content. [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139502/article.html\"]Good sites like Hulu.com[/url] and other Web-based video on demand sites are spread across the Web in a hodgepodge manner with no central site to serve as an online media master.
Yahoo is much more a traditional media company than Google at this stage and already offers great text and some TV news. Couple Yahoo with MSN and [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130744/article.html\"]Microsoft's Web technologies (such as Silverlight)[/url] and you could see the Web's first media powerhouse.
Hate: Two Big Brothers are Worse than One
[url=\"http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/004110.html\"]Google is looking to gobble up DoubleClick[/url], which has some not so positive privacy implications. Now if Microsoft buys Yahoo what Google doesn't know about you Microsoft will. It just is a bit too creepy to think of our digital footprints being so completely tracked. Live Search, Flickr, Yahoo News, MSN LIfestyle channel. With all its data it would have on us, Microsoft could come up with a personalized probability data feed that might be shockingly accurate.
Love: A True Search Competitor
Yahoo and MSN will finally give Google a run for its money when it comes to search. Google owns 57 percent of the search engine market, and Yahoo and Microsoft own together 34 percent, according to [url=\"http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3627654\"]Search Engine Watch[/url] . Given the combined search knowhow of Microsoft and Yahoo we'd like to see both breathe some new life into search technology. Yahoo already has some [url=\"http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/005584.html\"]interesting tools such as Search Assistant and Shortcuts[/url] that can make searching easier than Google. Check out [url=\"http://club.live.com/insiderguide.aspx?icid=livehp_allinone\"]Microsoft's Live Search Club[/url] to see how Live Search is getting smarter. Together we'd like to see Microsoft and Yahoo make search results more relevant and smarter.
Love: A Mobile Marriage
Microsoft and Yahoo combined would have a dynamite mobile offering without much heavy lifting. We'd like to see a marriage of Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system and its mobile business focus merged with Yahoo. [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141098/article.html\"]We love Yahoo's mobile offerings[/url] and its mobile search, maps, and email. Yahoo already has close ties to mobile carriers so it might not take long for the strengths of both mobile teams to trickle down to our cell phones.
Hate: A Mobile Monopoly
If the mobile offerings from Microhoo! are too strong, they could strangle [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139293/article.html\"]Google's Android mobile operating system[/url] at birth. And that would be a shame, since the open source effort promises users [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141976-page,1/article.html\"]a more customizable phone than they've ever had[/url]. Fortunately, Android has some significant backers of its own and a nascent developers' community (Mobile Handset Alliance). But given Microsoft's industry clout and its cutthroat competitive spirit and Yahoo's cozy relationship with carriers, Google's Android platform could be in for a big fight.
Love: Yahoo Maps Get Less Lame
[url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,132362-c,travelsites/article.html\"]Live Maps seems to be one of the few Microsoft web apps that are actually good[/url], and it may actually be better than Google Maps. (It certainly seems more up to date.) Meanwhile, Yahoo Maps suffers from a lame interface and more limited view options.
Love: YaHotmail!
Neither Yahoo Mail nor Hotmail is all that compelling on its own, but if [url=\"http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/004321.html\"]Hotmail's new interface[/url] were applied to [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136413-page,1/article.html\"]Yahoo's mail service[/url] (which doesn't kill your account so quickly if you don't log in), it might actually be worth using.
For more on this story, go to our [url=\"http://www.pcworld.com/ic/yahoomerger/\"]special page on the proposed Microsoft-Yahoo merger[/url].
[align=center]
[gamertag]NightStormDraco[/gamertag]
[twitter]NightStormDraco[/twitter]
[/align]
[gamertag]NightStormDraco[/gamertag]
[twitter]NightStormDraco[/twitter]
[/align]
Microsoft To Buy Yahoo?
talk about a huge press release... O_O I'm not sure if I would like this or not...
[align=center]
“If you stop learning, you stop living.” ~Tami Quiring
“It's the rare man who understands the value of a single perfect rose.”
[/align]
“If you stop learning, you stop living.” ~Tami Quiring
“It's the rare man who understands the value of a single perfect rose.”
[/align]