May 4, 2008

Weekend Update: Yahoo Too Rich For Microsoft's Blood

Microsoft Deletes Yahoo Deal

By Cable 360 Staff

WEEKEND UPDATE FOR MAY 3, 2008

As we noted Thursday, The Wall St Journal said Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer just might walk away from the Yahoo deal. [WSJ] Today he did. After a Saturday morning meeting with Yahoo in which he raised Microsoft’s bid by $5 billion, Ballmer abandoned the acquisition effort after Yahoo rejected the higher price. The increased bid put the deal’s value at some $47.5 billion. Without Microsoft’s takeover, questions about Yahoo’s future abound. Will it be able to heal the division within its ranks over the Microsoft deal? Will Yahoo craft alliances with AOL or Google? A more immediate concern is  how far its shares might fall on Monday. A large drop could mean that this is not the bitter end for Microsoft's interest in Yahoo. With Yahoo shares plummeting, Microsoft could swoop in for another takeover attempt, one that would be far cheaper.  [NYT] [WSJ]