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Stand by your bid
It was much ado about very little as Yahoo reported first-quarter earnings and Steve Ballmer weighed in from San Donato Milanese, Italy to say that Microsoft was standing by its unsolicited takeover bid and would “move forward” if Yahoo rejected it. DealZone’s Anupreeta Das reported that Yahoo’s Jerry Yang was “spectacularly vague” about the Internet company’s plans vis-a-vis Microsoft or potential tie-ups with Google, AOL or News Corp.
Apple has made a rare foray into M&A with the purchase of boutique microprocessor design firm PA Semi for $278 million, according to a report by Forbes. The company specializes in high performance chips that consume very little electricity — seemingly a good fit for Apple’s mobile-device heavy product line. With typical Jobsian clarity, a spokesman told Forbes: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not comment on our purposes and plans.” Yeah, no kidding.
A fight has broken out between eBay and Craigslist, with the auction giant suing the free Web listings company for taking steps to dilute its 28.4 percent ownership stake. EBay bought the minority holding from a former Craigslist employee in 2004. It also runs a Craigslist competitor called Kijiji, but said the lawsuit was about “corporate governance issues.”
** GlaxoSmithKline Plc said it had agreed to buy biotechnology company Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc
** Sony Corporation of America, a U.S. unit of Japan’s Sony Corp, said it would buy digital media company Gracenote Inc for about $260 million plus other consideration.
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With a strong earnings statement in its favor, Yahoo Inc could be less vulnerable to a buyout by Microsoft Corp at a price that Yahoo, and the company’s the Board of Directors, considers to be unacceptably low. “Yahoo’s chief executive, Jerry Yang, said that the company’s solid performance reaffirmed the board’s conviction that Microsoft’s unsolicited takeover offer undervalues Yahoo,” The New York Times reported on Wednesday. But Yang still left the door open for a new buyout deal with Microsoft: “Still Mr. Yang said Yahoo remained open to ‘any and all’ alternatives, including a deal with Microsoft,” The Times article added. Yahoo’s comments indicate that the company’s Directors could be close to striking a deal with Microsoft.