February 4, 2008 6:05 AM PST

Microsoft may borrow money for Yahoo deal

Software giant says it may borrow money for the first time in its history to fund a portion of its unsolicited offer for Yahoo.

The story "Microsoft may borrow money for Yahoo deal" published February 4, 2008 at 6:05 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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The Yapocalypse Song !
[Sung to the tune of Aquarius]

When Monkeyboy's in a buying mode
And Jupiter's Making him Strange
Then choas rules the markets
Chairs fly in Sunnyvale
This is the dawning of the Age of Yapocalypse!
Age of Yapocalypse!

Ya-POC-alyyyyyyyyyyyypse!
YA-poooo-cAAAA-lyyyyyyyyyypse!

Savagery and 'Softie violence
Flying chairs bouncing off the walls
All is falsehood and derision
Blackened nightmare acquisition
Ballmer's twisted predliction
Death be better liberation

Ya-POC-alyyyyyyyyyyyypse!
Ya-POC-a-lyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyypse!
Posted by Sumatra-Bosch (525 comments )
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Hey Micro$haft maybe you can borrow the loot from Google
???? Think they'll give you a good deal on a loan????
Posted by JCPayne (810 comments )
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Hilarious - MSFT is Bankrupting Itself to Buy a Dying Portal
Yahoo? It's practically a museum. Again MSFT buys a company at exactly the wrong moment, just as it reaches the point of homeless irrelevancy, for exactly the wrong reasons, gallumphing along barking brain-dead MBA speak and making brain-dead MBA decisions. Steve, you can bankrupt the company by buying the province of Alberta, too, and it still won't save you from being eaten alive by Google. Kneel, Monkeyboy, Kneel! Kneel and pray that you do not go down in history as the guy who turned out the lights on Microsoft!
Posted by Sumatra-Bosch (525 comments )
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Shhhhh
Shhhhhhh...let Microsoft die. :)
Posted by TBolt (69 comments )
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HP Tried this Tactic
They bought Compaq and learned that 2+2=3 when it comes to business mergers.

That loss of 1 is a painfull loss.
Posted by Renegade Knight (9727 comments )
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Another bad decision, after Vista
I completely agree. In my opinion, Microsoft is trying to embrace the world as whole, instead of doing what they did best -- Windows operating system. They should focus on Windows itself and in new on-line services. What really matters today is service and a better run for the money. That's why Google is ahead of Microsoft, and will continue to be, even if Microsoft joins with Yahoo and whatever. What is Yahoo? Just a famous brand, and an old and inefficient search engine, so bad as is MSN. The joining will do nothing for Microsoft, except ruining their cash which could be better used to enhance Vista, perhaps the worst operating system Microsoft ever made, and, in this matter, equals Windows ME which should never be released. We are watching the starting of the decline of the biggest software company the world has ever seen. Good lucky, Microsoft, you are gonna need it...
Posted by imcampos (1 comment )
Link Flag
Buy GOOG - most productive company in the world
A few readers have noted that Disneyland opens and closes an hour early on Tuesday, Febuary 5. The change to the park schedule is as a result of a private party for the employees of search engine Google, out of Mountain View, California. According to other readers who have friends and family who work for Google, the company has reserved large blocks of rooms at the Disneyland Resort hotels for employees. In addition to the private party on Tuesday, Google employees will likely be at the resort February 4, 5 and 6.
Posted by jasonmck (10 comments )
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Hi ho, Hi ho, it's into debt we go...
Told you they'd have to do that...

...and for what? Yahoo? It won't get them any dominance, it'll cause disruption for both MSN and Yahoo, and overall it'll reduce the combined marketshare by the time it all gets finalized.

Why can I say that? Easy...

* you can't write good code and innovate if you're too busy polishing your resume and going to job interviews for the impending lay-offs.

* you're going to be too busy trying to merge everything together, meaning that at level best, you'll see stagnation (with perhaps some superficial changes) for MSN and Yahoo, while Google remains free to forge ahead.

* two vastly different corporate cultures are going to clash - a lot. You'll likely lose a lot of key people in the process.

* that debt you went into has to be paid, and paid quickly, or your stock prices will fall into the toilet. Your share price is gonna drop anyway, leaving you no new money there.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is going to have to throw a ton of time, money, and energy into making this transition even halfway smooth. This leaves less to go around for more important stuff, such as trying to put some more lipstick on the Vista pig, and preventing Windows 7 from becoming an abortion.

For a company that is visibly declining from previous performance and marketshares, this is not a good thing.

/P
Posted by Penguinisto (5063 comments )
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Now that is stupid....
If MS has the cash to burn and can buy Yahoo then great buy them, if they want to be bought.

But for MS to put themselves in debt for a questionable return is ludicrous.

On top of that it appears that Yahoo doesn't want to be bought so just wait until their stock is at about $2/share and then buy them without having to go to the bank.

This whole MS-Yahoo deal is starting to sound like a bad idea for MS. As far as Yahoo's employees worried about their work culture changing if the buyout were to go through...don't worry about that culture as you can have the same culture while your camped out in Golden Gate park after Yahoo lays you off.
Posted by fred dunn (772 comments )
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