Microsoft Bids $44.6 Billion to Acquire Yahoo!

· Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is a world leader in PC software development. Bill Gates is its founder, and the company's headquarters are located in Redmond, near Seattle, USA. Currently, Microsoft has branch offices in over 60 countries and employs nearly 44,000 people worldwide. Chairman of the Board: Bill Gates

· Yahoo! Inc.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) is one of the most famous American internet portal sites and was one of the creators of the internet miracle at the end of the 20th century. Its services include a search engine, email, news, etc., with operations spanning 24 countries and regions, providing diversified online services to more than 500 million independent users globally. To date, it has maintained its position as the world's top portal search website. Co-founder: Jerry Yang

At 21:40 on February 1st, a relevant person from Google Greater China stated regarding Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid to acquire Yahoo!, that Google does not comment on market actions by its competitors.

In recent years, Microsoft has been vigorously expanding its Live Search service and has achieved some success in English language searches; Yahoo! is a direct competitor to Google in the search market. If Microsoft acquires Yahoo!, this would lead to a reshuffling of the global search market. Regarding Microsoft's negotiations to acquire Yahoo!, Google indicated it would not provide any commentary.

Today, Microsoft announced that it had submitted a purchase offer to the board of directors of Yahoo!, planning to acquire all issued common shares of the company at $31 per share, with a total transaction value of approximately $44.6 billion.