MSNBC: Microsoft abandons bid to buy Yahoo
Wow. I mean, wow. The only other time I can think of Microsoft walking away from a proposed merger was way back, for Intuit (Quicken)… to be honest, I think it’s the right move for the company, but now I have to wonder what’s next for Yahoo!… I know the shareholders aren’t going to take it well and given the hubbub over the Google/Yahoo! ads trial (and the DOJ’s reaction to it,) I can’t imagine a merger there would be allowed.
Or does Y! come back Monday morning with a “oh, alright, $33/share is enough after all”? Of course, I’d love to see Microsoft say “sorry, the offer is lower now!” *g*
The mind boggles – just as much as it did when the merger was announced in the first place.
I think financially it would have been a smart move for Yahoo!. But it would have wrecked their image. Which is why I think Yahoo! was holding out in the first place. Microsoft just strikes most people as an evil monopoly. Give it another 5 years and everyone will view Google the same way. And then companies won’t be so eager to be swallowed up by them either.