I read the exclusive today in the NY Post about Microsoft’s desires to acquire Yahoo! in it’s ever increasing attempts to stay compete (try to anyway) with Google. This would indeed be HUGE for Microsoft, but is it truly worth it for them? (I guess it’s really all they can do to try to keep pace with Google. Not that Yahoo isn’t worth $50b (wow that’s a lot of money), but if so, will that break the back of Microsoft trying to merge the two corps together while keeping all the users? I guess only time (and ton’s of money) will tell.
Here’s the scoop:
Stung by the loss of Internet advertising firm DoubleClick to Google last month, Microsoft has intensified its pursuit of a deal with Yahoo!, asking the company to re-enter formal negotiations, The Post has learned.
While Microsoft and Yahoo! have held informal deal talks over the years, sources say the latest approach signals an urgency on Microsoft’s part that has up until now been lacking.
The new approach follows an offer Microsoft made to acquire Yahoo! a few months ago, sources said. But Yahoo! spurned the advances of the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant. Wall Street sources put a roughly $50 billion price tag on Yahoo!.
“They’re getting tired of being left at the altar,” said one banking source who has recently had talks with Microsoft. “They now seem more willing to extend themselves via a transaction to get into the game.”
Part of the reason for that is because Google keeps trumping Microsoft on the deal front, beating out the company on not just DoubleClick, but also for a renewed search advertising pact with AOL in 2005 that Microsoft lusted after.
Moreover, with Google developing Internet-based software that directly competes with Microsoft Office, sources said Microsoft has no choice but to go on the offensive.
“The minute you hear Microsoft start arguing against something on antitrust grounds, you know they are desperate and need to do something big,” said one source. Read the full story …
