Micro to Yahoo: These Boots Were Made for Walkin’
ADOTAS – In stark contrast to yesterday’s verbal Valentine to Yahoo, the capricious Microsoft Corp. chief Steve Ballmer is warning Yahoo that unless Jerry Yang changes his tune, Microsoft may walk.
“We are offering a lot of money,” Ballmer said at a Microsoft conference in Milan. “If Yahoo’s shareholders like it, that’s great. We are prepared to go forward without a merger with Yahoo.”
Microsoft made an unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo in January in an attempt to muscle in on Google’s online search and advertising dominance.
Yesterday, Yang said that Yahoo was open to a Microsoft deal. “Our board and management team continue to be open to any and all alternatives, including a Microsoft deal,” he told investors in a conference call discussing Yahoo’s recently released earnings (the company posted its first quarterly profit increase in more than two years). He also said that Yahoo hopes to focus on display advertising – not search — as marketers continue to rely on display for their online brand advertising needs.
For the first quarter, Yahoo reported earnings of 11 cents per share on revenue of $1.35 billion. Its net income was $542 million – but as Valleywag points out – $401 million of that profit came from a noncash gain, or Yahoo’s take from Alibaba.com’s IPO. (Yahoo owns a 39% stake in Alibaba Group).
Yahoo has until April 26 to consider Microsoft’s offer – in four days, Ballmer said he may lower Microsoft’s bid and/or take over Yahoo’s board.
Yahoo was recently trading at about $28.09, down 1.58% and Microsoft was trading at about $31.14, up 2.98%.
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