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Strategies & Market Trends : Speculating in Takeover Targets -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: richardred who wrote (1909)	2/14/2008 1:32:11 AM
From: richardred	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7265

Yahoo Explores Alliance With News Corp. Thursday February 14, 12:03 am ET By Michael Liedtke, AP Business Writer Yahoo Turns to News Corp. in Effort to Escape Microsoft Takeover Bid SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Yahoo Inc. hopes media conglomerate News Corp. can rescue it from a Microsoft Corp. takeover -- or at least prove the slumping Internet pioneer is worth more money than its unsolicited suitor wants to pay. A News Corp. partnership could provide Yahoo with the escape hatch that the Sunnyvale-based company has been seeking since Microsoft pounced with its takeover bid two weeks ago. If nothing else, the possibility of Yahoo joining forces with one of the world's largest media empires could prompt Microsoft to sweeten its bid, which was originally valued at $44.6 billion, or $31 per share. Yahoo is believed to want at least $40 per share, or about $56 billion. The details of the proposed News Corp. alliance were still being worked out Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person didn't want to be identified because the talks are considered confidential. Most analysts believe Microsoft will do whatever necessary to buy Yahoo because the world's largest software maker views the acquisition as the best way to counteract Google Inc.'s dominance of the online search and ad markets -- a battleground that is rapidly reshaping the technology and media industries. "Buying Yahoo makes tremendous sense for Microsoft, more sense than any other company in the world," said Ken Marlin, a New York investment banker specializing in media and technology deals. Both The Wall Street Journal and a prominent blog, TechCrunch, reported that News Corp. is interested in folding its popular online social network, MySpace.com, and other Internet assets into Yahoo -- an idea that first came up last year. News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. and a private equity firm reportedly would buy significant stakes in Yahoo as part of a complex deal designed to push the Sunnyvale-based company's market value toward $50 billion. A Yahoo spokesman said the company continues to "carefully and thoroughly" evaluate alternatives that will enrich its long-term shareholders. Yahoo's board reportedly is to meet again Thursday or Friday to consider the company's next move. News Corp. spokeswoman Teri Everett declined to comment on the Yahoo talks. Yahoo shares climbed 31 cents to $29.88 Wednesday while Microsoft shares gained 62 cents to $28.96 News Corp. shares slipped 10 cents to finish at $19.93. Based on Microsoft's current market value, its cash-and-stock bid for Yahoo now stands at $29.50 per share, or about $41 billion. Yahoo rejected Microsoft's offer Monday, saying it "substantially undervalues" assets that include one of the Internet's biggest audiences and best-known brands. Microsoft has held firm so far, calling its original bid "full and fair" while threatening to launch a hostile takeover attempt. "What's unclear now is whether Yahoo is just trying to get a higher offer or if the company really doesn't want to sell to Microsoft," said Peter Falvey, a technology investment banker with Revolution Partners. Although News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch unequivocally said during a conference call last week that his New York-based company isn't interested in an outright acquisition of Yahoo, he didn't rule out the possibility of a deal involving MySpace. When asked whether he might renew the previous discussions with Yahoo about a MySpace alliance, Murdoch replied: "I think that day has passed, but you never know." A News Corp. stake in Yahoo might hinge on whether the two sides can agree on how much MySpace is worth. News Corp., which also owns the Fox television and movie studios in addition to its newspaper and Internet holdings, bought MySpace for $580 million in 2005. But the social network's value has soared as its audience has swelled above 100 million users, creating a potential advertising gold mine. Ironically, Murdoch and his lieutenants can point to a recent Microsoft deal to make a case that MySpace is worth more than $15 billion. Facebook Inc., which owns the Internet's second largest social network behind MySpace, now arguably has a $15 billion market value, based on Microsoft's purchase late last year of a 1.6 percent stake for $240 million. Despite its popularity, MySpace hasn't established itself as an effective advertising vehicle. Google last month cited lackluster returns from its ad partnerships with MySpace and other social networks as one of its few disappointments during the fourth quarter. Besides talking with News Corp., Yahoo also reportedly has explored an advertising partnership with Google, its biggest rival. Although Google probably could help elevate Yahoo's drooping profits, the alliance would likely face antitrust hurdles because the companies operate the Web's two biggest ad networks and eliminating one would reduce competition. Reports of a possible merger with Time Warner Inc.'s AOL appear to be more rumor than fact, said the person familiar with News Corp. negotiations. AP Business Writer Seth Sutel in New York contributed to this story. biz.yahoo.com

To: richardred who wrote (1909)	3/13/2008 12:20:47 PM
From: richardred	Respond to of 7265

AOL Buying Bebo for $850 Million Posted Mar 13, 2008 09:57am EDT by Robert Andrews in Investing, Internet, Venture Capital, M and A, IPOs Related: twx, nws, goog, via, yhoo From paidContent.org, March 12, 2008: In a major and rather unexpected deal, AOL (NYSE: TWX) is buying social net Bebo for $850 million in cash. Rumors had swirled around Bebo of either an acquisition or new financing for weeks, but few anticipated AOL as the suitor. AOL will get Bebo’s 40 million members and 80 million unique users, its core 13-to-24 demographic and a growing line in both original TV production and hosting broadcasters’ content. This comes as AOL completes its transition from an access business to an ad-funded content and community player. Bebo president Joanne Shields, who has grown to effectively run Bebo from London since she was hired from Google (NSDQ: GOOG) in January ‘07, “will continue to run Bebo and will report to Ron Grant”, the announcement says. But there’s no mention of site founders Michael or Xochi Birch, who are based in what is technically Bebo’s headquarters in San Francisco. Shields is not in the UK today and will be on a joint AOL-Bebo call at 9am EST. AOL CEO Randy Falco: “Bebo is the perfect complement to AOL’s personal communications network and puts us in a leading position in social media. What drew us to Bebo was its substantial and fast-growing worldwide user-base, its vision of a truly social web, and the monetization opportunities that leverage Platform-A (AOL’s ad system) across our combined global audience. This positions us to offer advertisers even greater reach and marketers significant insights into the desires and needs of consumers.” Shields says the acquisition is “a natural progression” for Bebo because the pair share “one and the same vision in this area” of leveraging social networks. - Suitors: This price is considerable when you consider News Corp (NYSE: NWS) paid $580 million for MySpace in 2005, when it had 27 million unique monthly users. In the last couple of months, rumors had linked Google and News Corp to a potential acquisition, but this buy is far less than the unlikely $1 billion recently mooted. Rupert Murdoch was reportedly spotted at Bebo in SF in January with a view to either buy or invest, but its press people explained the apparent untruth away to me as office high jinx, adding it’s “always open to talks” on funding. Viacom (NYSE: VIA) was also linked with a $750 million purchase. - Advertising: Bebo claims high user engagement, with an average 78 pages per user per day, and 33 minutes. But Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) inked a deal with Bebo in September to manage the social net’s UK and Ireland display and video ads as well as integrate its Yahoo Answers platform - it will be interesting to see whether AOL’s Platform-A will now oust Yahoo as the ad supplier, and this brings ongoing Yahoo-AOL discussions in to sharp relief. Curiously, AOL used the announcement to tout its Open AIM instant messenger initiative - curious because Bebo already added AIM support to its Windows Live Messenger functionality in October. Bebo is especially popular in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand and has over 100 staff across its London, San Francisco and Austin offices. No word yet on whether Bebo will stay put or move to AOL’s HQ. finance.yahoo.com