For Yahoo! Board of Directors, today must be the luckiest day of their lives. Or not. Its unrelenting suitor Microsoft has disturbed our weekend with a stunning unsolicited bid to acquire the Jerry Yang’s beleaguered company.
According to its press release, Microsoft’s proposal is to acquire all the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 representing a total equity value of approximately $44.6 billion.
Wow! This is exactly what you need in times of need – a helping hand ready abuse you. It’s no secret Yahoo! is facing a lot of problems these days. Aside from its consistently poor financial performance, Yang is inept in delivering “upbeat, rally-the-troops speeches to audiences of investors, customers and even employeesâ€. To make matters worse, the company has announced a job cut of 5% of work force of 1,000 employees by February.
While the world awaits Yahoo’s sweet surrender, it is ironic to note that Microsoft is the one really desperate here. Desperate with a lot of money, that is. Almost all its online initiatives did not perform well, particularly its Windows “Live†brand. They need Yahoo’s expertise in online advertising to survive against the onslaught of Mountain View’s beast, Google.
On the other hand, Yahoo is in the period of adjustments. With some repairs here and there, it can stand on its own feet again, even without Microsoft. Then again, who can resist a $44.6-billion offer?
Originally posted on February 1, 2008 @ 9:41 am