The confirmed rumor heard around the world. The official news that Microsoft has put in a bid on Yahoo! for USD$44.6bn. The offer, made public this morning, is Microsoft to pay $31 per share (while Yahoo! sits at $19.18 (“YHOO”) at the present time) in a mix of cash and stock. That’s a 62 percent premium over Yahoo!’s stock price.
Despite their heavy investments in online services, both Yahoo and Microsoft have watched Google extend its dominance over Internet search and the lucrative online advertising business that goes along with it.
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Yahoo investors, however, remain skeptical. The company’s shares have slumped and before the bid were trading at levels not seen in more than three years.
Earlier this week, Yahoo said it would cut 1,000 jobs in an effort to refocus the company and reduce spending, and issued an outlook for 2008 that disappointed investors.
As NY Times author Miguel Helft writes, Yahoo! has certainly seen better days. Both Microsoft and Yahoo! have been slowly losing market share to Google.
Would the acquisition of Yahoo! by Microsoft actually do anything — for either company?
Microsoft is a dying cause. They should have quit while they were ahead not as far behind. Microsoft’s Windows is the next lost cause to drown. With so many people switching to Apple, it’s no big surprise that this demise would come quickly.
It’s cute that Microsoft is trying to stay alive, I just don’t see it happening.
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