Microsoft does not plan to increase its offer for Yahoo, according to Bill Gates, the AP reports. There are no private, behind-closed doors negotiations going on -- at least between Yahoo and Microsoft, he said. The AP story reports:
"We sent them a letter and said we think that's a fair offer. There's nothing that's gone on other than us stating that we think it's a fair offer," the Microsoft chairman said Monday. "They should take a hard look at it."
Microsoft Corp. made an unsolicited offer to buy Yahoo Inc. just over two weeks ago. At the time, the deal was valued at $44.6 billion, but since then, Microsoft's share price has tumbled 12.8 percent, pushing the value of the cash-and-stock offer closer to $41 billion.
Most of Yahoo's largest institutional investors also have holdings in Microsoft - bigger holdings, researchers say. So the pressure is on Microsoft to not overpay for Yahoo, even by Yahoo's major shareholders.
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Julie Bort is the editor of Microsoft Subnet and Network World's Online Community Editor. She also writes the Open Source Subnet blog and is the editor responsible for the Cisco Subnet and Open Source Subnet web sites. If you have an idea for a blog, or a news tip on Microsoft, Cisco or Open Source technologies, contact her at jbort@nww.com, 970-482-6454 or follow Julie on Twitter @Julie188.
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