Possible deal for Microsoft Yahoo soon International Herald Tribune

Business with Reuters iht.com Business Culture Sports Opinion AMERICAS EUROPE ASIA PACIFIC AFRICA MIDDLE EAST TECH MEDIA STYLE HEALTH TRAVEL PROPERTIES BLOGS DISCUSSIONS SPECIAL REPORTS AUDIONEWS Morning home delivery save up to SEARCH Advanced Search Possible deal for Microsoft Yahoo soon By Daisuke Wakabayashi and Michele Gershberg Reuters Published May E Mail Article Listen to Article Printer Friendly Column Format Translate Share Article Text Size BOSTON NEW YORK Microsoft and Yahoo are making last minute efforts to seal a deal before Microsoft takes its Yahoo bid hostile or abandons it altogether sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. Microsoft may raise its offer now worth . billion . billion pounds share from an initial per share to complete a deal as soon as this weekend a person familiar with Microsoft s thinking said. But talks are at a sensitive stage and a deal is not certain sources familiar with the situation said. Investors bet an agreement was likel! y sending Yahoo shares up percent to . on the first news of significant contact between the sides since Microsoft s deadline for its initial offer expired last Saturday. My sense is Microsoft is considering raising their price to the mid s said a San Francisco based portfolio manager who owns both Yahoo and Microsoft shares but would not be identified due to a company policy regarding shares that are actively traded. Today in Business with Reuters Asian leaders issue poverty warning Withdrawal or new ploy in the battle for Yahoo Mobile TV gathers momentum Yahoo had previously refused to enter formal negotiations with Microsoft saying the initial price it made public in February did not properly value Yahoo s search and display advertising technology or its overseas holdings. Every dollar added to the per share price amounts to about . billion extra for the total deal at current prices and Microsoft shareholders have questioned how much higher the company should go. If it s ! or less I think it s fine said the portfolio manager whose company owned . million shares of Microsoft and . million Yahoo shares as of the end of December. NO QUICK EMBRACE A deal could give Microsoft a stronger foothold in its battle with Internet search leader Google which is rapidly expanding into the software maker s own turf with new Web based applications. Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer indicated on Thursday he might sweeten the bid after weeks of saying publicly that his offer was fair as it stood. I know exactly what I think Yahoo is worth to me exactly Ballmer said at a meeting with Microsoft employees. I won t go a dime above and I will go to what I think it s worth if that gets the deal done. Yahoo executives have repeatedly said the company was not averse to a deal with Microsoft at a higher price. But in a sign of its reluctance Yahoo has courted a possible deal with Time Warner s AOL division and a search advertising partnership with Google. Yahoo is still in talks on an alternative to the Microsoft bid sources familiar! with the matter said on Friday. For its part Microsoft has made clear it will not wait much longer. Ballmer said on Thursday that walking away was one of three options along with striking a friendly deal or launching a hostile bid and to expect an announcement shortly. Microsoft shares fell . percent to close at . . Yahoo shares closed at . up nearly percent on the day. Additional reporting by Anupreeta Das in San Francisco Muralikumar Anantharaman in Boston Kenneth Li in New York Editing by Braden Reddall Back to top Home Business with Reuters IHT.com Home Latest News Lewis Whyld PA via The Associated Press Conservative is elected as mayor of London Boris Johnson was sworn in as mayor of London after an electoral victory that was a resounding rebuke to the Labour government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. In Opinion Juries come to Asia More Headlines Turkish schools in Pakistan offer a milder form of Islam No Champagne for Sarkozy First lady of Iraq survives attack marine! s killed Cyclone kills hundreds in Myanmar Video See all videos Jobs data help Dow Nasdaq falters U.S. stocks ended in mixed fashion as a report showing modest job losses in April soothed economic jitters bu. Corn farmers at a standstill It s prime planting season in the U.S. corn belt but farmers are sitting on the sidelines because weather con. And Finally. Tongue Dyed Putting your art where you mouth is a guerilla gardner and office chair jockeys face off. God and politics Religion again enters the Presidential race. The war machines of the future Mini helicopters micro flying saucers and other robotic devices have been competing in the UK for a war games. Central banks inject liquidity Major central banks announced larger liquidity injections in a bid to wrestle down market interest rates and j. Foreign aid for food Intergovernmental agencies take action to attack the world food crisis. Economy in focus Markets await more news on economy as voters go to the polls. Kosovo s business struggles Devastated by years of rule under Milosevic and ! the war and almost a decade of status limbo Kosovo busine. Jobs report gives hope Fewer U.S. jobs were lost in April than feared and the unemployment rate unexpectedly improved. Latest News Business Sports PM Stoke City back in top flight after years PM Gunmen pull Iraqi journalist from taxi and kill her PM Zimbabwe opposition mulls conditions for run off PM Focus on Europe rates as economy slows PM Austrian incest father s secret past emerges PM Focus on Europe rates as economy slows PM Government seen risking business exodus over tax PM Bankinter seeks to buy RBS out of Spanish JV PM Barclays reportedly eyes possible Korea investor PM Daimler mulls Jaguar and Land Rover cooperation PM Stoke City back in top flight after years PM Bendtner header wins over Everton PM Bendtner header leaves Everton sweating PM Hackett s dream ends with disqualification PM Torch in mainland China gets thunderous welcome updated See all headlines Most E Mailed Hours Days Days . Turkish schools! offer Pakistan a gentler Islam . Being different in the People s Republic of China . Obama wins Guam by a whisker . Big Brown wins Kentucky Derby filly is euthanized . WHO says virus that killed children in China is not a threat to the Olympics . Gas tax holiday a test for flagging Obama campaign . Cyclone kills hundreds in Myanmar . Who will tell the people . Obama says Clinton s gas tax relief plan symbolizes a candidacy of phony ideas . Trying to put a name to the face of evil . Opponents carry injured home run hitter around the bases . You name it and exercise helps it . China builds its large scale future . Singapore succeeds at managing everything except dating . A different kind of homework for Singapore students Get a date . Fewer Latino immigrants in U.S. sending money home . May a watershed in French life . Europe s debt to Islam given a skeptical look . Relaxed admission brings chaos to the British Library . Muslim educator s dream branded a threat in the U.S. . As Australia dries a global shortage of rice . Opponents carry injured! home run hitter around the bases . U.S. prison population dwarfs that of other nations . You name it and exercise helps it . China builds its large scale future . Putting pollution on grocery bills . South Korea to use cloned dogs to sniff for drugs and explosives . Singapore succeeds at managing everything except dating . A different kind of homework for Singapore students Get a date . Aboriginal musician astonishes Australian audiences iht.com f F qualifying to be modified for safety reasons More from Formula At Renault Alonso returns to his roots Aspiring engineers on mini track to a Grand Prix career A youthful fascination with Grand Prix racing Blogs Managing Globalization Join the IHT s Daniel Altman in a lively discussion of the day s economic news with an eye on globalization

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/05/03/business/OUKBS-UK-YAHOO-MICROSOFT.php

Also look at new pharmacy store