【マイクロソフトがYAHOO!を買収？】

■Microsoft bids $44.6B for Yahoo (cnn.com)

久しぶりのMEGA DEALなニュース。446億ドルというと、日本円で約4兆7500億円！

Google対策が目的と云われているけれど、もし成立すればNETの勢力図が劇的に変化するのは間違いない。

YAHOO！の既存株主にとっては、先週木曜日のクロージングの株価に６２％のプレミアが付くことに成るから、悪い話じゃない。

現在、４００億ドルのオンライン広告の市場は、いずれ倍の８００億ドルに成長すると見られているので、独創するGoogle陣営に対抗してネッ広告トビジネスの覇権争いに苦労しているマイクロソフトにとっては安い買い物なのかも知れない。

昨年は時価総額が３０％下落し、つい先日も2月中旬を目処に1100人のリストラを実施すると発表したばかりのYAHOO!にとっては、渡りに船のオファーとなるのか。

それにしても天文学的な数字だ。在るところには在るんですね～。

(CNN) -- Software giant Microsoft said Friday it had made an unsolicited offer to buy Internet search engine operator Yahoo with a cash and stock bid worth $44.6 billion.

Yahoo shares have lost around 30 percent of their value in the past year.

The $31-a-share offer represents a 62 percent premium for shareholders above the closing price of Yahoo stock on Thursday, Microsoft said in a statement.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the move marked the "next major milestone for the Washington-based company.

The offer allows Yahoo shareholders to elect to receive cash or a fixed number of shares of Microsoft common stock with the total purchase consisting of half cash and half stock.

Yahoo shares rose nearly 60 percent in pre-market trading on news of the approach, while Microsoft shares were down 2.6 percent, CNN Money reported.

The announcement comes with Microsoft and Yahoo seeking to compete with Google in the lucrative online advertising market, currently worth $40 billion and expected to grow to $80 billion within three years. Watch CNN International Financial Editor Todd Benjamin's analysis of the offer »

Yahoo shares have lost around 30 percent of their value in the past year, while Google shares have gained, despite reporting a slowdown in fourth-quarter revenue growth.

Earlier this week, Yahoo announced plans to lay off 1,000 employees by mid-February, citing what CEO Jerry Yang described as "headwinds" facing the company. It also reported lower fourth-quarter earnings -- though still ahead of Wall Street's modest expectations for the firm