Microsoft lusts after Yahoo. Again
p2pnet news | Products:- With Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates away to pastures new, is Microsoft’s new boss, Steve Ballmer, resurrecting his attempts to gain control of Yahoo?
“Microsoft Corp., positioning itself for a new run for Yahoo Inc.’s search business, has approached other media companies in recent days about joining it in a deal that would effectively lead to Yahoo’s breakup, say people familiar with the discussions,” states the Wall Street Journal, going on:
“Microsoft has held discussions with Time Warner Inc. and News Corp., among others, say people involved in the talks.
“In the past, Microsoft has floated an arrangement under which it would acquire Yahoo’s search business and another partner, such as News Corp.’s MySpace or Time Warner’s AOL, would combine forces with what remained of Yahoo.”
Now, “Some of the people familiar with these talks say they are preliminary and unlikely to result in a deal with Yahoo,” says the WSJ.
“Indeed, two weeks ago, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer called Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock to suggest they meet to discuss a new idea involving other partners, according to a person familiar with the matter. The meeting, scheduled for Monday, was subsequently canceled by Microsoft, which Yahoo took as a sign that Mr. Ballmer’s efforts to find a partner have so far failed.”
“WSJ says Yahoo in the form of Bostock and indie board member Ron Burkle offered a sale for $33-34 per share in mid-May, weeks after this was all supposed to be over, but Microsoft said no,” says paidContent.org.
“Lots of details in the article for failed deal gluttons.”
Meanwhile, “It’s impossible to say what will happen next, because Microsoft may not be as predictable as it used to be,” says Jack Schofield in the Guardian, adding:
“In the 1990s, the company was clearly run by programmers, or ‘friends of Bill’. They always took the view that they could write stuff, so they generally didn’t really need to buy stuff.
“Now Bill Gates has more or less bowed out, the company is clearly run by businessmen and wheeler-dealers, or ‘friends of Steve’.”
.
.Stumble It!
away to pastures new – Carriers cheerfully take heat on iPhone pricing, July 2, 2008
Wall Street Journal – Microsoft Seeks Partners For a New Run at Yahoo, July 2, 2008
paidContent.org – Microsoft-Yahoo: No Real End In SightTo The Scheming, That Is, July 2, 2008
Guardian – Microsoft looking for partners to dismember Yahoo, says Wall Street Journal, July 2, 2008
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