Microsoft Proposes Acquisition of Yahoo! for $31 per Share
Microsoft has just offered Yahoo stock holders $31 a share in what must be characterized as a takeover rather then an acquisition. Yesterday Yahoo's share price closed at $19.18, so it appears this is going to be a knockout rather then a long drawn out fight.
We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market - Steve Ballmer
Steve I can tell you the feeling isn't mutual and some of the best talent at Yahoo are going to run to Google, Facebook or begin their own start-up with the money you give them.
In February 2007, I received a letter from your Chairman indicating the view of the Yahoo! Board that "now is not the right time from the perspective of our shareholders to enter into discussions regarding an acquisition transaction." According to that letter, the principal reason for this view was the Yahoo! Board's confidence in the "potential upside" if management successfully executed on a reformulated strategy based on certain operational initiatives, such as Project Panama, and a significant organizational realignment. A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved. - Part of the letter from Steve to Jerry.
Update - Yahoo! today said that it has received an unsolicited proposal from Microsoft to acquire the Company.
Our lives, our businesses, and even our society have been progressively transformed by the Web, and Yahoo! has played a pioneering role by building compelling, high-scale services and infrastructure...The combination of these two great teams would enable us to jointly deliver a broad range of new experiences to our customers that neither of us would have achieved on our own. - Ray Ozzie, chief software architect Microhoo
I was on the conference call from Microsoft this morning, but they only answered questions from financial annalists. I wanted to ask about the cultural differences, I believe the best and brightest Yahoo talent will take the money and run, so much for all the synergies.