But it’ll take some time.

No announcement has been made about the next move in the Microsoft campaign to acquire Yahoo. This may be a ploy. Microsoft gave the internet pioneer until 26th to respond to the unsolicited purchase offer. Yahoo didn’t reply. So, who’s holding the cards? Well, probably both companies. Microsoft would appear to be playing a careful game. Steve Ballmer has suggested that Microsoft can build serious competition in the search market without Yahoo, but it may take some time! Is it just me or was that a pretty obvious statement. Redmond has also been acquiring smaller search companies such as Fast Search. Microsoft could walk away.

Yahoo are in an equally strong position. Recent profit announcements have boosted the managements opinions of the companies value. Add in the recent gains in the share of the search market and you can see why Jerry Yang and co. are holding out for higher share offer. This is the major sticking point. At a recent in-house meeting Ballmer said “I know exactly what I think Yahoo is worth and I won’t go a dime above,”.

In or out of the crosshairs?

I think Microsoft will attempt a hostile takeover. Yahoo is the no. 2 search engine with Microsoft trailing back in 3rd place. The acquisition will them Redmond some real momentum and a serious foundation for a deeper push into the online market so don’t expect them to walk away just yet.

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