Microsoft offers to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion

Technology giant Microsoft Corp said that it had offered to acquire Internet media company Yahoo Inc for $44.6 billion in cash and stock. Microsoft said it had offered to buy Yahoo for $31 per share, which it said represented a 62 percent premium...

Technology giant Microsoft Corp said that it had offered to acquire Internet media company Yahoo Inc for $44.6 billion in cash and stock.

Microsoft said it had offered to buy Yahoo for $31 per share, which it said represented a 62 percent premium above the company's closing stock price on Nasdaq on Thursday. "We have great respect for Yahoo, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market," Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said in a statement.

Yahoo was not immediately available for comment. Microsoft said it had identified four areas that would generate at least $1 billion in annual synergies for the combined entity.

Yahoo shares rose 56 percent to $29.95 in premarket trading following the announcement. U.S. stock index futures also jumped after the news was released.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.