It’s Official: Yahoo Nixes Microsoft/Yahoo Deal

The landmark 44.6 Billion Dollar bid (one of the highest bids ever for any single online property) by Microsoft for the ailing web property Yahoo was quashed yesterday by their executives, financial/legal advisors, and Board of Directors officially stating that the deal was “Not in the best interest of Yahoo and our stockholders”.

The bid by Microsoft would have merged the two companies into a single entity creating a viable competitor against the Search Giant, Google. 

Yahoo’s official statment continued on to say, “After careful evaluation, the Board believes Microsoft’s proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo, including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as our substantial unconsolidated investments,”

Interesting…

I had a conversation with my operations manager yesterday when he mentioned that Yahoo had turned down the offer and he said that Yahoo will now be doubly accountable to increase value for its shareholders.  I couldn’t agree more.  Yahoo is an outstanding company which has stood the dot.com test of time but its future is questionable given the size of its competition: HUGE. 

That being said, if Microsoft were to re-bid later down the road, he doubts that the bid would be anywhere near 44.6 Billion dollars.  Since Yahoo turned down the opportunity to potentially satisify shareholders, the pressure’s even greater now than it was just a few months earlier.

I really do hope Yahoo pulls out of the dive.  As much as I am a fan of Google, I don’t think that having one search engine to serve everyone’s needs is in the best interest of web users.  Competition keeps companies on their toes.   

Sources

Kaye, Katie “Microsoft Stuns Industry with $44.6 Billion Bid for Yahoo” ClickZ .com 1/2/08
Accessed: 12/2/08
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3628304

Kay, Katie “Yahoo Confirms Rejection of Microsoft Bid” ClickZ.com 11/02/08
Accessed: 12/2/08
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3628394