By Ian Simpson 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
SAN DONATO MILANESE, Italy (Reuters) -
Microsoft Corp.
(MSFT.O) is standing by its $44 billion bid for Yahoo Inc
(YHOO.O) and will "move forward" if it is rejected, Microsoft
Chief ExecutiveSteve Ballmer said on Wednesday.
Microsoft, the world's biggest software company by market
value, has made an unsolicited bid for Yahoo, a U.S. Internet
media and advertising company. On Tuesday Yahoo released better
than expected first-quarter results, leading to speculation
Microsoft could alter its bid.
"We know what Yahoo is worth to us. We offered a lot of
money: $44 billion, it is not a lot of euros anymore. If their
board thinks that's fair, great. If not, we'll move forward,"
Ballmer said onstage after an address at an information
technology event.
He did not explain what he meant by moving forward.
Ballmer later told a news conference, "Time is money. We
made clear in the last letter we sent" to Yahoo's board. "We'll
see what happens."
Yahoo faces a Saturday deadline to respond to Microsoft,
after which Microsoft has said it will launch a proxy battle to
unseat Yahoo's board.
Microsoft wants to buy Yahoo to challenge Google Inc
(GOOG.O) in online advertising.
Asked whether Microsoft could make a bid for Google,
Ballmer said in part that he did not think the Internet company
would be interested and a bid would raise regulatory issues.
Yahoo and Microsoft rank number two and three in Web search
respectively and are at a stand-off. Microsoft has said its
offer of $31 a share is fair, but Yahoo has said the
cash-and-stock offer undervalues the company.
In the video game sector, Ballmer was asked if Microsoft
planned to alter its Xbox prices in light of a cut in prices
for its Xbox 360 video game console in Europe last month.
"We're pretty comfortable right now with Xbox pricing,"
Ballmer said at the news conference.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Richard Hubbard)
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