It’s Not So Much a Prediction as a Plea to Get the Damn Thing Over With …
by John Paczkowski
Posted on April 14, 2008 at 3:09 PM PT
News that Yahoo’s (YHOO) board of directors failed to reach any decisions after meeting Friday to discuss the company’s response to Microsoft’s (MSFT) bid has some folks wondering if Yahoo’s directors are, you know, … understandably … er … hesitant about merging with AOL (TWX).
And it has others suggesting that Microsoft and the Internet search pioneer may announce a deal as early as this week. Predicting that Yahoo is unlikely to post stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings next week, UBS Securities (UBS) analysts Benjamin Schachter and Heather Bellini say they wouldn’t be surprised if in the next few days the company agreed to be acquired by Microsoft. “We still think Microsoft will prevail,” Bellini said in the note. “We would not be surprised to see a deal struck sometime this week, and think it will end up being for a higher price than the original $31 per share offer.”
And who knows, it could happen. A merger of the two companies has seemed a foregone conclusion for quite a while now. As Tech Trader Daily’s Eric Savitz aptly notes, “… in the end, it’s simply obvious. Microsoft needs to buy. Yahoo needs to sell. The rest is a sideshow.” Mafioso Torch Yo, anyone?
