Microsoft makes unexpected $44.6B offer for Yahoo
Microsoft made an unsolicited, $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo today - 62 percent more than Yahoo's Thursday closing price, sending the Silicon Valley web company's shares soaring today.
Yahoo, of Sunnyvale, said it was evaluating the proposal. Microsoft has been attempting to buy Yahoo in negotiations for the well over a year, with no success. Today, the Redmond, Wash. software giant said the combination of the two companies could realize $1 billion a year in efficiencies and synergies while better positioning themselves to compete for online dollars.
Yahoo said its directors "will evaluate this 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."
Analysts said the deal was largely about Google's dominance of online advertising and how to compete against the Mountain View web giant. "This deal is mainly about advertising, and mainly about search-based advertising," said the 451 Group, based in Boston. "It combines the second and third players in that market to take on the No. 1, Google. The main thing this brings Microsoft is a profitable advertising business, something it has not managed to achieve with its own online services business, which loses money."
Google has been gaining ground on Yahoo, which is also under pressure from the increasing popularity of social networking Web sites. Yahoo's stock closed at a four-year low Thursday, before Microsoft's offer sent it rocketing upward this morning.
The deal - with a net value of $42.75 billion after taking into account Yahoo's $1.85 billion net cash - is certain to draw extensive antitrust scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice, but Microsoft said it was confident it could gain approval of the deal. The Justice Department said it is "interested" in reviewing the "competitive effects" of the proposed transaction.
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