MUMBAI (Reuters) -
Microsoft Corp believes it has made a fair offer to acquire Yahoo and
is committed to bolstering its digital advertising capabilities
irrespective of the outcome, its chief operating officer said.
"We believe we've made a very fair offer to Yahoo's board of
directors," Kevin Turner said at a news conference in Mumbai to launch
strategic initiatives with India's HCL Infosystems Ltd.
"Currently, it's in their hands to decide the outcome of that offer," he said.
Microsoft had threatened on Saturday to launch a hostile bid for
Yahoo and could lower its offer of $42.4 billion in about three weeks
if it does not get a deal, which Yahoo argues is worth more than
Microsoft's bid.
The New York Times reported this week News Corp was in talks to join Microsoft's bid for the Web pioneer.
The offer for Yahoo was in line with Microsoft's aim to enhance its digital advertising capabilities, Turner said.
"We will continue to drive marketshare from a search standpoint
within the consumer space, and that's a strategy we're committed to in
the long term," he said.
The offer for Yahoo was "a tactic and a strategy" toward that goal, Turner said.
"The rest is now up to their board ... With or without the
acquisition we are committed to becoming a world class digital
advertising company."
Yahoo announced on Wednesday a test to outsource Web search
advertising to Google Inc, which sources say is part of a three-way
alliance that would combine Yahoo with Time Warner Inc's AOL instead of
Microsoft.
But a joint Microsoft-News Corp bid would create a more formidable
competitor to Google by bringing together three of the biggest Web site
publishers: Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN and News Corp's MySpace social
network.
Any of the potential mergers would fundamentally change business on
the Web as growth slows dramatically after a decade of explosive growth.
(Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)
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