SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft Corp. has pounced on slumping Internet icon Yahoo Inc. with an unsolicited takeover offer of $44.6 billion in its boldest bid yet to challenge Google Inc.'s dominance of the lucrative online search and advertising markets.The surprise offer of $31 per share, made late Thursday and announced Friday, comes with Sunnyvale-based Yahoo in a vulnerable position.
With its profits steadily sliding, Yahoo's stock slipped to a four-year low earlier this week and a new management team has been trying to steer a turnaround sees more turbulence through 2008.
The announcement sent Yahoo's share price up 60 percent in premarket trading, while Google fell 8 percent.
In a letter to Yahoo's board of directors, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said the world's biggest software maker will bid $31 per share, representing a 62 percent premium to Yahoo's closing stock price Thursday.
Since reaching a 52-week high of $34.08 in October, Yahoo shares have fallen 46 percent. Yahoo climbed $11.47 a share, or 59.8 percent, to $30.65 in premarket trading.
No comments:
Post a Comment