Microhoo - Good idea or Bad?

[chinaco]

Is the Microsoft Yahoo deal another Time Warner/AOL bad idea? Too late?

[al_bundy]

MS is trying to improve it's web presence because MSN is a joke. the key is retaining the top people and keeping the customers. since there is nothing behind yahoo except top talent to keep the website running the key is retaining the top talent.

and the amount of customers on there makes it a great platform to compete in the online apps marketplace that google is in. microsoft's business software can suddenly get an online version for all the people selling through yahoo stores to manage their business.

a lot of good synergies if they play it right and from what i read MS is a great company to be bought out by

[Hamlet]

I've owned MSFT for a long time. I think this merger is a terrible idea. YHOO is an eroding brand, IMO. I don't think it is worth paying $40+ billion for a company that is losing ground daily to google.

The market appears to hate the deal, since MSFT has lost at least $40 billion in market cap since the deal was announced. The market is basically saying that the deal has negative synergy. I agree, although I think the market is being a little too pessimistic.

I'm hoping MSFT just gives up and walks away from the deal.

I think the YHOO management should have jumped at the deal. If they can't get MSFT to raise their bid, I think eventually YHOO will be worth a lot less in the future.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by Hamlet

I've owned MSFT for a long time. I think this merger is a terrible idea. YHOO is an eroding brand, IMO. I don't think it is worth paying $40+ billion for a company that is losing ground daily to google.

The market appears to hate the deal, since MSFT has lost at least $40 billion in market cap since the deal was announced. The market is basically saying that the deal has negative synergy. I agree, although I think the market is being a little too pessimistic.

I'm hoping MSFT just gives up and walks away from the deal.

I think the YHOO management should have jumped at the deal. If they can't get MSFT to raise their bid, I think eventually YHOO will be worth a lot less in the future.

Before the deal was announced YHOO was trading around $20. Then MSFT offers $30, but YHOO refuses saying it's worth $40. I don't get it. How can they say it's worth $40 when it was trading at $20 before?

[chinaco]

Originally Posted by Patrick

Before the deal was announced YHOO was trading around $20. Then MSFT offers $30, but YHOO refuses saying it's worth $40. I don't get it. How can they say it's worth $40 when it was trading at $20 before?

Some of it is expectations on the Microsoft bid. Others may anticipate that YHOO will be better managed or synergies will yield a better valuation. Or just out and out speculation.

[ziggy29]

Originally Posted by Hamlet

The market appears to hate the deal, since MSFT has lost at least $40 billion in market cap since the deal was announced.

How much market cap would MSFT have lost if it merely performed inline with the rest of the Nasdaq 100 since Mister Softie's intentions were first announced?

[CCdaCE]

Wouldn't it just be cheaper if M$ hired headhunter(s) and got all of Yahoo's "talent"?

I wonder why they don't do this. It's got to be cheaper than buying Yahoo.

-CC

[DroopyDog]

Originally Posted by CCdaCE

Wouldn't it just be cheaper if M$ hired headhunter(s) and got all of Yahoo's "talent"?

I wonder why they don't do this. It's got to be cheaper than buying Yahoo.

-CC

As I understand it, this was a classic Microsoft tactic in the past:

1. Propose to acquire company X
2. Discover identities of key personnel during acquisition talks with company X.
3. Break off acquisition talks.
4. Hire key personnel away from company X.

In this case it seems like they want the Yahoo brand to give them some web credibility. Besides, a lot of Yahoo's top talent might have already gone down the street to Google

[al_bundy]

Originally Posted by CCdaCE

Wouldn't it just be cheaper if M$ hired headhunter(s) and got all of Yahoo's "talent"?

I wonder why they don't do this. It's got to be cheaper than buying Yahoo.

-CC

not just talent, yahoo has a lot of customers using it's services that aren't very easy to get without buying yahoo

[al_bundy]

Originally Posted by Hamlet

I've owned MSFT for a long time. I think this merger is a terrible idea. YHOO is an eroding brand, IMO. I don't think it is worth paying $40+ billion for a company that is losing ground daily to google.

The market appears to hate the deal, since MSFT has lost at least $40 billion in market cap since the deal was announced. The market is basically saying that the deal has negative synergy. I agree, although I think the market is being a little too pessimistic.

I'm hoping MSFT just gives up and walks away from the deal.

I think the YHOO management should have jumped at the deal. If they can't get MSFT to raise their bid, I think eventually YHOO will be worth a lot less in the future.

Google is #1 in search and beind everyone else in every other service they offer. and the next generation of search technology is a few years away and there is no guarantee that google will be #1 again. 10 years ago if you told people google would be the search leader they would think you are on drugs.

Google is a master of taking everyone's information on the internet and presenting it in a bare manner, like Google Finance. they are also masters at making a new gee whiz service, keeping it in beta forever, making a few changes and then forgetting it. which is what happens when you let engineers run everything.

Yahoo has real data and real services like yahoo finances which tops Google in hits. and one day the people that create the information that google takes will stop letting google use it for free