Takeover speculation rife

2 April 2008

Speculation is building that Microsoft is close to agreeing a deal with Yahoo, two months after it launched an unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover attempt.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital, Kara Swisher noted that things had been "quiet, very quiet at Yahoo and Microsoft this week". She interpreted this as a sign that a deal between the two was "getting ever closer".

Writing over the weekend, Swisher added that "several sources within Yahoo" reported an end to "noisy internal activity" by the search engine's executives.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that "people familiar with Microsoft's plans" had said the software giant saw no reason to raise its $31-per-share bid. "Why would Microsoft bid against themselves?" an unnamed source asked.

Also on Tuesday, technology publisher InfoWorld fanned the flames, declaring the deal done in a comparatively credible April fools' story.

Meanwhile, TechCrunch says it has heard from "multiple sources" that a Google acquisition of internet telephony service Skype is in the offing.

Category: Miscellaneous