In a Press Release this morning, Microsoft announced the proposed acquisition of Yahoo! Inc. in a cash and share swap offer that they say represents a 62% premium on current share prices. “We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft. “We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners.”
The paragraph that I find most interesting, and of course this should be no surprise to anyone, is the following: "... The resulting benefits of scale along with the associated capital costs for advertising platform providers make this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today this market is increasingly dominated by one player. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a competitive choice while better fulfilling the needs of customers and partners." Looks like the first serious volley has been fired, I expect that Google's response might come from the 700 MHz auction which some had speculated Google was not really that interested in, this might make that space a whole lot more attractive now. Lead or follow?
The paragraph that I find most interesting, and of course this should be no surprise to anyone, is the following: "... The resulting benefits of scale along with the associated capital costs for advertising platform providers make this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today this market is increasingly dominated by one player. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a competitive choice while better fulfilling the needs of customers and partners." Looks like the first serious volley has been fired, I expect that Google's response might come from the 700 MHz auction which some had speculated Google was not really that interested in, this might make that space a whole lot more attractive now. Lead or follow?
