Microsoft officially withdrew its offer to acquire Yahoo on Saturday but only after it threw an additional US$5 billion on the table.
Microsoft on Saturday issued an ultimatum to Yahoo, giving the Internet search pioneer three weeks to enter formal merger negotiations and conclude a deal.
Without a competing suitor to push Microsoft's unsolicited bid higher, Yahoo is turning to its investors to get that job done.
OK. So anti-trust lawyers would have a field day but consider this -- the software giant is on an official spending spree and this is the best time to spread its wings ... to become the Coca-Cola of the IT industry.
If Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer were to call SAP CEO Henning Kagermann for advice, he would be told to spend his money on Yahoo.
OK. So anti-trust lawyers would have a field day but consider this -- the software giant is on an official spending spree and this is the best time to spread its wings ... to become the Coca-Cola of the IT industry.
Nobody, least of all Yahoo and Google, doubted that the two companies' search-advertising deal would escape any antitrust scrutiny.
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