A person familiar with Microsoft Corp’s bid for Yahoo Inc said on Friday the software company is re-evaluating its offer in light of the economic climate and the Internet pioneer’s deteriorating business.
The person, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said Yahoo’s share of the search market and overall conditions have deteriorated since Microsoft announced its bid on Feb. 1.
At the time, Microsoft offered US$44.6 billion, or 62 percent above Yahoo’s market value. The deal is currently valued at about US$41 billion, based on Friday’s closing share prices.
PHOTO: AFP
Yahoo’s board formally rejected Microsoft’s bid, saying it undervalues the company. The person familiar with Microsoft’s thinking said the company has been patient — but will be so only to a point.
“It’s up to Yahoo’s board to engage in meaningful negotiations with Microsoft,” the person said.
Senior executives of the two companies reportedly met last week near Yahoo’s Sunnyvale, California, headquarters but walked away without advancing the negotiations, the Wall Street Journal said.
Spokespeople for Microsoft and Yahoo declined to comment when asked about the meeting.
Separately, a jury ordered Microsoft on Friday to pay US$367.4 million to Alcatel-Lucent for infringing on two patents, a decision the software maker vowed to appeal.
The US District Court jury in San Diego, California, found that handwriting recognition technology in Microsoft’s Tablet PC operating system infringed on pattern recognition patents held by Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent.
The jury also decided that some of Microsoft’s programs, including the Outlook e-mail application and the Windows Mobile operating system, infringed on an Alcatel-Lucent patent in the way users select calendar dates from a menu.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
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