Ok, pretty big news right! Technically I do not predict big changes for online advertisers and search marketers in the short term as I am sure Microsoft will not want to rock the revenue boat. It will be in interesting to see how competition between MSN and Yahoo! plays out though.
Microsoft said it had offered to buy Yahoo for $31 per share, which it said represented a 62 percent premium above the company’s closing stock price on Nasdaq on Thursday. Microsoft said Yahoo holders would be able to trade each of their shares for $ 31 in cash or 0.9509 of a Microsoft share, pro-rated so that no more than half of the overall purchase price is paid in cash. Pre-market trading Friday sent the stock to: 29.34 +10.16 (52.97%) as of Feb 1 8:36am ET.
The deal values Yahoo at 65 times earnings. Currently, it trades at 40 times earnings, according to FactSet Research. Yahoo shares haven’t traded at $31 since November.
The companies held talks about partnering or merging in late 2006 and early 2007. Those talks included the potential of a merger proposal, but Yahoo told Microsoft in February it wasn’t interest in being acquired.
On another note Google’s shares did not do well in pre-market trading:
GOOG: Pre-Market: 526.76 -37.54 (-6.65%) Feb 1 8:51am ET
This announcement and yesterday’s earnings news from Google really hit them hard:
“NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Google reported earnings and sales for the fourth quarter that missed Wall Street estimates, sending the stock tumbling after hours.”
