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The latest

Ballmer's board broaches beefier bid

01/05/08 Microsoft's board of directors has at least toyed with the idea of increasing its bid for Yahoo!.

The bid

Microsoft! bids! $44.6bn! for! Yahoo!
01/02/08 Microsoft has made a $44.6bn takeover bid for Yahoo!. Microsoft is offering Yahoo! shareholders a mix of cash and stock under the unsolicited offer.

Ballmer! explains! hostile! Yahoo! bid!
01/02/08 Steve Ballmer all but confirmed that Microsoft wanted to buy Yahoo! for scale, branding and audience rather than any technology or products the web media co-owns.

Yahoo! to! reject! Microsoft! offer!
10/02/08 The board at Yahoo! plans to reject Microsoft's unsolicited $44.6bn takeover offer, the Wall Street Journal reports. Quoting "a person familiar with the situation," the publication states that after a series of meetings over this weekend, the board thinks the software giant's bid "massively undervalues" Yahoo!

Microsoft rejects Yahoo! rejection
11/02/08 "It is unfortunate that Yahoo! has not embraced our full and fair proposal to combine our companies," the statement begins. "Based on conversations with stakeholders of both companies, we are confident that moving forward promptly to consummate a transaction is in the best interests of all parties."

Yahoo! formally! rejects! Microsoft! offer!
11/02/08 Yahoo! "believes that 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." And so on. It also wants to restart merger talks with AOL, according to The Times.

Gates! says! Yahoo! offer! fair!
19/02/08 "We sent them a letter and said we think that's a fair offer. There's nothing that's gone on other than us stating that we think it's a fair offer... They should take a hard look at it."

Microsoft preps Yahoo! proxy attack
19/02/08 Microsoft will soon spark a Yahoo! proxy fight rather than up its $44.6bn bid for the beleaguered Web portal. An increased bid would cost the company billions more, but sources tell DealBook that Microsoft could launch a proxy battle simply by spending an extra $20m to $30m on a proxy solicitor and some letters to Yahoo! shareholders.

Microsoft emails its staff to reassure Yahoos
25/02/08 Microsoft exec Kevin Johnson has emailed all Microsoft staff to reassure them about the Yahoo! acquistion.

Yahoo! seeks time out on Microsoft bid
05/03/08 Yahoo! is dropping an election date to buy more time against a hostile Microsoft takeover.

Microsoft to Yahoo!: surrender or else
06/04/08 Microsoft has told reluctant takeover target Yahoo! that it has three weeks to negotiate a deal - or the bid will go hostile. If it ends up in a proxy battle, Microsoft will almost certainly return with a lower offer than the $44bn bid originally tabled on January 31.

Yahoo! to Microsoft: No surrender!
07/04/08 Yahoo! has replied promptly to an open letter sent to them by Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer on Saturday.

Yahoo! to post Google ads on Yahoo!
09/04/08 The next time you search Yahoo!, you may see a Google ad. And Steve Ballmer isn't too happy about it.

Microhoo! deal roadmap goes round in circles
10/04/08 Microsoft's hostile takeover bid for Yahoo! is starting to resemble a corporate speed-dating night, as rival suitors jump back in the running.

There's no way Ballmer survives Yahoo! disaster scenario
12/04/08 Microsoft is buying Yahoo! to . . . oh, that's right no one from Redmond has really explained that one yet. Most of the pundits think Redmond has an ad play in mind. Well, the Open Season crew sees it differently.

Google and Yahoo! 'move closer' to ad wedlock
17/04/08 Pleased with its test of Google's ad engine, Yahoo! is considering a more extensive partnership with its search rival/large weapon against Microsoft.

Yahoo! pulls Alibaba out of hat, posts big Q1 profit jump
22/04/08 Jerry Yang today hailed Yahoo!'s "extraordinary" Q1 results, citing the besieged firm's ability to execute, against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and Microsoft's unwelcome bid to buy the company.

Microsoft could go it alone without Yahoo!
24/04/08 Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer yesterday dropped the biggest hint yet that Redmond could turn its back on rival Yahoo! if its hostile bid to buy the internet search engine is rejected.

Microsoft profits fall in Q1
25/04/08 Xbox fans helped propelled Microsoft's business during its latest quarter as the repercussions of last year's Windows Vista launch continued to be felt.

Microhoo! what's! going! on?
Microsoft is laying aside $1.5bn to keep Yahoo! staff happy and at their desks should the takeover go through.

The market responds

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! play pots-and-kettles 2.0
04/02/08 Microsoft and Google engaged in skirmishing by statement this weekend as they began what is likely to be a rancorous, drawn-out battle over the future of Yahoo!.

Potential suitors throw Yahoo! to the wolf
06/02/08 Yahoo! can marry Microsoft or remain an old maid with a less than rosy financial outlook. Those are the options. And we're being kind including one of them.

Yahoo! shares! rise! above! offer! price!
08/02/08 Yahoo! shares are worth more than Microsoft offered to pay for them last week. Even though when Microsoft made its offer to buy Yahoo! it included a 62 per cent premium Yahoo! shareholders are now better off selling their shares on the open market.

Murdoch could save Yahoo! from Microsoft!
14/02/08 A full takeover is unlikely because News Corp. is still in the process of digesting, and paying for, recent purchases like Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. It is not clear how real the deal is and how much it is being used to encourage Microsoft into improving its offer.

Yahoo! and Microsoft's shared shareholders may swing deal
18/02/08 Ninety per cent of Yahoo!'s institutional investors are also Microsoft shareholders, and most have more Microsoft shares than Yahoo! shares. Although they might feel that Microsoft will increase the price offered for Yahoo!, such investors' main interest is in the overall deal.

Ubuntu man says Microsoft's about to 'swallow a hand-grenade'
27/04/08 Well, here I am just a few miles from Yahoo! headquarters and Microsoft's Silicon Valley residence. It's Sunday, and I've yet to hear screams from either camp. So, it seems that Microsoft's call to action deadline around the Yahoo! buy is passing with a lack of fanfare. Yahoo! may surprise us yet by leaking something to the New York Times or perhaps Steve Ballmer will call up his buds at the Wall Street Journal, but in lieu of such actual movements, I'm left wanting.

The regulators

Euro lawyers see tortuous road ahead for Microsoft's Yahoo! bid
01/02/08 Microsoft is likely to face a torrid time from European regulators before it can even think of closing its proposed takeover of Yahoo!.

FTC and DoJ will fight for the right to rule on Microhoo!
02/02/08 Would Microhoo! hamper market competition? If Jerry Yang finally agrees to be swallowed by Steve Ballmer, that's a question for regulators in the US as well as the EU. But first, another question needs answering: Which US regulator will review the acquisition: the Department of Justice (DoJ) or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)?

The technology

Microsoft! needs! Yahoo! developers! developers! developers!
01/02/08 While much will be spoken in the coming weeks and months of synergies, structural integration and the combined market share potential of a Microsoft and Yahoo! marriage, it will be the practical and philosophical decisions that Microsoft takes in relation to maintaining and supporting the Yahoo! Developer Network that will really determine whether this deal becomes a success or whether it's just another merger that barely moves the needle or, worse, sees developers drift away from Yahoo!.

Microhoo's future rests with open source and courage
03/02/08 Should Microsoft's bid for Yahoo! go through, the combined company would face one very major infrastructure question - how far is it willing to go in the war against Google?

Microsoft! snuggles! with! Yahoo! on! OpenID!
07/02/08 Call it coincidence or call it necessity, but Microsoft has jumped onboard a Yahoo!-backed initiative to give internet users a single digital identity.

Microsoft architecture chief 'clarifies' online formula
05/03/08 Microsoft's chief software architect Ray Ozzie tried to clarify Microsoft's software plus services internet strategy. And guess what, it involves advertising and Yahoo!.

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