Still Too Early to Declare A Winner...
On May 3, 2008, Microsoft withdrew its offer to acquire Yahoo! and chose not to pursue a hostile bid (see Exhibit 15). Microsoft had increased its offer to $33 per share (about $47.5 billion) but the two parties still could not reach an agreement. In addition, a recent successful Google-Yahoo! paid-search test and potential deal made the acquisition even more complicated for Microsoft. Two weeks after withdrawing its offer to purchase Yahoo!, Microsoft reopened the door to the possibility of a potential new investment in Yahoo! (not a total acquisition) while discussions were still ongoing between Yahoo! and Google