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Microsoft May Buy Yahoo!

by Tim Stevens on February 1, 2008 at 09:22 AM

Microsoft Getting Serious About Search: Attempting to Buy Yahoo!Microsoft Getting Serious About Search: Attempting to Buy Yahoo!
In the Internet search realm, there's one player that dominates the rest: Google. It's by far the most popular search engine out there. Exactly who is number two on the list is somewhat debatable, but it's generally held to be former search giant Yahoo!, whose share price is currently hovering at about a paltry (by comparison) $19. However, that price is set for something of a surge this morning as news of a takeover bid from Microsoft sweeps the Internet.

Microsoft is offering $44.6 billion for all outstanding shares of Yahoo! stock, a 62-percent increase over the closing price of the stock as of yesterday. That's quite a premium and shows that Microsoft is serious about adding the company to its portfolio. MS has already made a big investment to increasing the quality of its Live search, but it just hasn't managed to gain any foothold in the increasingly competitive search market.

Needless to say, the entire blogosphere is a-twitter discussing the implications. Fears of a monopoly is a common theme, while some think that this could just start a bidding war and that Google itself might counter-offer -- though we think that's a bit unlikely. Meanwhile, the Register reminds us that last year at this time Microsoft attempted the same buyout and was rebuffed. This time, however, with Yahoo! stock price down from the $30-range this time last year, it's doubtful many investors will be telling Microsoft to take a hike.

Indeed that seems to be the common reaction this morning, as Yahoo! stock was already up 60% in pre-market trading.

From Microsoft, Rev2.org, Gesterling, The Register, Money.aol.com

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Tags: Google, Microsoft, Yahoo

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