d******8
发帖数: 1972 | 1 ...Google Inc. (GOOG) is considering providing financing for an acquisition
of Yahoo! Inc. by another company or a group of bidders, according to a
person who has been briefed on the matter.
The company may opt not to take part in any offer and hasn’t engaged in
serious discussions with would-be partners, said the person, who asked not
to be identified because the deliberations are private.
Yahoo is weighing strategic options after firing former Chief Executive
Officer Carol Bartz, in part for her failure to keep pace with Google in the
online advertising market. Google, which is under regulatory scrutiny from
governments around the world, may lend its financial support to preserve
Yahoo as a rival and bolster competition in the Internet industry, said Greg
Sterling, an analyst at Opus Research in San Francisco.
“If competition dissipates or diminishes, then the hand of regulators is
strengthened,” Sterling said. “If competition is diminished or
marginalized, then all the arguments about Google being a monopoly ring more
true.”
Google, which has $42.6 billion in cash and short-term investments, is
considering helping finance other bidders, rather than trying to acquire
Yahoo outright, the person said.
FTC Review
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission began a review of Google’s business
practices, including search and advertising, the company said in a
regulatory filing in June. The European Union and the state of Texas also
have begun investigations of the company’s leadership in search and
advertising markets.
Potential financing by Google for a bid for rival Yahoo has parallels with
the $150 investment that Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) made in competitor Apple Inc
. in 1997 to help preserve competition in the computer market, Sterling said
.
Still, regulators might scrutinize any Yahoo acquisition effort that
involves Google. The U.S. government threatened to challenge an earlier
proposal by Google to place ads on Yahoo’s site, causing Google to abandon
the effort in 2008.
Representatives of Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo and Mountain View,
California-based Google declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal
reported earlier today that Google is considering financing a bid by private
equity firms for Yahoo.
A growing roster of private equity firms is considering whether to pursue
Yahoo, which has a market value of $20.35 billion. Microsoft is weighing
providing financing, a person familiar with the matter has said.
A potential investment by Microsoft, a longtime Google rival, also may have
prompted Google’s interest in a financing deal involving Yahoo, Sterling
said.
Alibaba Interest
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., whose largest shareholder is Yahoo, has said it
’s “very interested” in the Web portal, an arrangement that would help
the Chinese company buy back its 43 percent stake.
KKR & Co. and Blackstone Group LP (BX) are among firms weighing an offer for
Yahoo, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month. Alibaba has
discussed a plan with Silver Lake and Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies to
make a joint bid, people familiar with the matter have said. Another group
interested in an offer includes Providence Equity Partners Inc. and former
News Corp. executive Peter Chernin, people have said.
Google advertising customers are able to buy space on Yahoo sites through
Google’s Invite Media service, according to the person familiar with Google
’s deliberations.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Womack in San Francisco at
b******[email protected] |
|
