|
As Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid for Internet pioneer Yahoo enters its second week, a U.S. House panel has  postponed a hearing on the mater while Microsoft awaits a decision from Yahoo's board that could come as early as Friday. Microsoft has expressed hope that by combining resources with Yahoo it could become a more competitive online advertising choice as it attempts to make inroads against Google. Yahoo Board May Have Decision Friday Yahoo, which has said that its review of Microsoft's January 31 bid will take time to consider, may hold a meeting of its board of directors as early as Friday to determine whether to accept the bid, according to speculation from several technology Web sites. Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo may choose to decline the unsolicited Microsoft offer and instead pursue an agreement with Web search leader Google to outsource its search advertising, as chief executive and co-founder Jerry Yang is expected to explore measures to protect the firm from a Microsoft takeover. With shares of Yahoo stock rising Thursday above the $31 offered by Microsoft, some Wall Street analysts see Yahoo being able to ask Microsoft for additional money, should the board approve the takeover bid. Despite some analysts' calls to accept the bid, Yang and other senior executives appear to be considering any plans that would prevent a Microsoft takeover and keep Yahoo independent. Were Yahoo able to avoid Microsoft's takeover attempt and refrain from forming a partnership of some sort with Google, it could likely face difficulty focusing on plans Yang hopes to implement to better compete against Google. Yang, widely regarded as having a genuine and deep concern for the firm he helped create and its more than 14,000 employees, has been seen by some as having moved too slowly making major changes since taking over as CEO. "He came on board, announced a 100-day strategic review and promised there would be no sacred cows," Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney told the New York Times in a recent article. "One hundred days went by, and no cows were slaughtered," Mahaney added. Yahoo Chairman Entered Fray Quickly A move to form a limited search partnership with Google would likely draw intense scrutiny from regulatory bodies in the U.S. and abroad. Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock, 67, who has spent nearly 40 years in the  advertising industry, is expected to lead the firm's ten-member board as it debates and ultimately decides whether to accept Microsoft's bid. Madison Avenue veteran Bostock, who was voted Yahoo chairman only some 15 minutes before Yang received the phone call from Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer informing him of the huge bid, will work with other board members including Citizens Communications chief executive Maggie Wilderotter, a former Microsoft executive, to make a decision. Bostock, who has been on Yahoo's board for four years, will take part in a decision that is expected to play a large role in shaping the future of online advertising and the Internet itself. Congress Postpones Hearing on Bid On Thursday the House panel that was to meet regarding Microsoft's bid called off the hearing several hours before it was slated to begin due to scheduling conflicts. Congress has made it clear from the beginning that it intends to scrutinize the scope and privacy issues surrounding the Microsoft proposal, although a rescheduled hearing date has not been set yet. At a separate hearing, one of three that have been announced, scheduled to take place Friday before the House Judiciary Committee's Task Force on Antitrust and Competition Policy, expert testimony regarding how the Microsoft proposal could affect competition on the Internet is expected. A series of hearings already scheduled for the spring have recently been expanded to include discussion of Microsoft's bid, and will take place before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. Although no dates have been scheduled, a third hearing is planned by the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust group. Should Microsoft's bid receive approval in the U.S., it would likely still face additional oversight hearings in Europe. Microsoft's Yahoo Plans Microsoft looks to Yahoo as being able to provide a key piece to its online advertising plans, however opponents of the proposed merger fear it could prove detrimental to both firms, as integrating overlapping services could take valuable time while Google, with its strong momentum, forges ahead. "There is going to be a lot of red tape, bureaucracy and [cost cutting], so one would think there could be a long wait
before we see any benefits to this deal," according to Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Derek Brown in a recent Associated Press article. "While all that is going on, Google will be stepping on the accelerator," Brown added. Microsoft has said that it believes a successful takeover of Yahoo could begin making money within two years, and Ballmer has made it known that should the acquisition occur consumers can expect the Yahoo name to remain. "Yahoo, the brand, will live," Ballmer noted in a recent BusinessWeek article. Last Friday Microsoft's Kevin Johnson, president of the company's platforms and services division, speculated on how search engineers might work together should Yahoo become part of the world's biggest software company. "It doesn’t make sense to have thousands of engineers at Yahoo working on a search index, thousands of engineers at Microsoft working on the same search index. By combining, we can have one team of people across the two companies working on the search index, and then have others continue to focus on areas where we’ve defined differentiation in search, new search verticals and expanded user experience for search," Johnson told Microsoft employees during a company webcast aimed at explaining the proposed Yahoo merger, a transcript of which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Microsoft's Yahoo Bid Enters Second Week in Flux Johnson also shared information about a forthcoming version of Microsoft's Live Search engine, expected to launch in the spring, dubbed "Rome". "We are now in [the] vision phase for Windows Live Wave 3, working to get that out later this year. We are full speed ahead for this Rome release in the spring," Johnson said. As the second week begins since Microsoft's offer, any response from Yahoo remains in flux. Related Links:
|
10:26 pm on Feb. 8, 2008 (utc 0)