Microsoft dismisses potential deal with Yahoo!
Microsoft has dismissed speculation that it may go in to takeover talks with Yahoo!.
Yahoo! boss Jerry Yang indicated that he would be willing to consider a new bid from Microsoft, however, the software giant said it has “moved on”.
Yahoo! turned down the £33-a-share deal that Mircosoft offered them in May, claiming it undervalued the company, which they believed was worth $37 a share at the time (see Microsoft Drops Yahoo! Bid).
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief, said: “We tried at one point to do a partnership around search and that didn’t work.
“We are not interested in going back and re-looking at an acquisition. I don’t know why they would be either, frankly,” he added.
This comes just days after Google terminated its controversial search advertising deal with Yahoo!, in order to avoid a “protracted legal battle” with regulators (see Google terminates Yahoo! ad deal).
The proposed deal would have seen Google ads displayed around Yahoo!’s search results, however, advertisers were concerned that with the two companies comprising 80% of the US market, the deal would eliminate competition.
Google had Yahoo! made several changes to the proposal they submitted to the US Department of Justice, hoping to get regulators to agree to the deal.
However, a number of close sources had suggested that they would be better off walking away from the deal (see Google and Yahoo! make last attempt to win ad deal approval).
On Wednesday, Google said it was clear that government regulators and advertisers still had concerns about the agreement and it didn’t want to damage relationships as a result.
In response, Yahoo! said: “Yahoo! continues to believe in the benefits of the agreement and is disappointed that Google has elected to withdraw from the agreement rather than defend it in court.”
The ramifications of today’s news will be discussed at MediaTel’s “Future of Online” seminar on November 25 – the panel includes Google’s Dominic Allon.
Details can be found on our Seminar website: click here for more information and booking
Microsoft: 0870 60 10 100 www.microsoft.com/uk Yahoo!: 020 7808 4200 www.yahoo.com Google: 020 7031 3000 www.google.com