Yahoo, chris liddell, top, acquisitions, microsoft

Microsoft CFO: Maybe we'll shop elsewhere

In deals like the potential Yahoo-Microsoft merger, "speed is of the essence," Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell said during yesterday's earnings call. But since Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo in February, this one "has been anything but speedy." Microsoft's options, Liddell told analysts on the line, are to bring the "offter to Yahoo's shareholders," "withdraw our offer," or "consider other investments." Liddel said raising its bid is not such an option:

The strongest argument I've heard as to why we should increase our bid — that we can afford to — is not one I favor.

Liddell said Microsoft will announce its decision next week.

8:00 AM on Fri Apr 25 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
1,007 views
11 comments

Comments

FiveStarEggRoll at 08:08 AM on 04/25/08
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[Disclaimer: This has nothing to do with this Valleywag entry.]

Open Letter to Valleywag:

Please release me from my doldrums. Valleywag and the other industry blogs have been very boring as of late. Please do something to spice things up a bit.

Harry "thanks in advance" Wang
matto at 08:13 AM on 04/25/08
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i agree with that comment.
Nicholas Carlson at 08:26 AM on 04/25/08
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Connectedness Index: 221
Brought to you by Acura TSX

@matto: I'm not supposed to complain. But [valleywag.com] and [valleywag.com]

K? Click and be satiated.
Michael Bauser at 08:30 AM on 04/25/08
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Yeah, because when I think of Microsoft, I think "speedy."
Blackjack at 08:59 AM on 04/25/08
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He looks like the illicit love child of PR hack Steve Rubel and Joe Pesci.
matto at 09:03 AM on 04/25/08
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@Nicholas Carlson: I did appreciate the linkedin stalking immensely! Especially the sterling ESL "recommendation," which was like a maraschino cherry atop your cream pie of a story.
Arnaud H at 09:53 AM on 04/25/08
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The yahoos (and YHOO stockholders) looking at the stock price this morning must be hating on Jerry right now.
BobDope at 03:04 PM on 04/25/08
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Dude needs to play up the slight Putin resemblance for the fear potential.
achates at 03:34 PM on 04/25/08
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I'm sure there are some Yahoos who want to be bought by Microsoft; just none of the ones I know.

Microsoft walking away would be fine - Yahoo has a lot more upside potential than Microsoft, despite the market's recent disregard for it.

You think Yahoo is slow - how late was Vista? How weak is their current web offering? How pinned are they to closed-software models that tend to lose to open source?

Any shareholder who thinks this is a good idea should just sell their shares and buy Microsoft shares.
lestack at 10:41 AM on 04/26/08
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I would hope msft has at least two other options for a major acquisition or a series of medium acquisitions.

YHOO lost out bigtime to Google. Before this acquisition talk YHOO was on more of a path to irrelevance then recognizing its upside potential. Yang, et. al. are out of ideas. Yang had his last chance with the recent earnings/guidance. He is out of ammunition. He is acting the child when he needs to be an adult. And it looks like YHOO management has no shortage of babies. Clash of cultures?
Maybe these yahoo managers don't want to be accountable for the first time in their lives.
xhooter at 12:31 PM on 04/27/08
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accept and employees walk.
reject and shareholders revolt.

fun choice.