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SEATTLE (Reuters) -
Microsoft Corp plans to invest heavily
in Web search to competes against Google Inc, even if it fails
to acquire Yahoo Inc, the company's chairman Bill Gates said on
Monday.
Gates, who called Microsoft's offer for Yahoo "very fair,"
said Google is the only company with "critical mass" in Web
search. Microsoft needs a bigger piece of the market to create
a more competitive and profitable Web search business.
"We can afford to make big investments in the engineering
and marketing that needs to get done. We will do that with or
without Yahoo," said Gates in an interview with Reuters.
"But we also see that we'd get there faster if the great
engineering work that Yahoo has done and the great engineers
there were part of the common effort," said Gates, who is
Microsoft's biggest shareholder.
The two companies are at a stand-off in Microsoft's $41.7
billion unsolicited bid to acquire Yahoo. Microsoft has offered
to buy Yahoo for $31 a share in cash and stock, a bid which
Yahoo's board rejected, saying it undervalued the company.
Microsoft countered by saying its offer was "full and
fair," but did not say what it planned to do next. Analysts
expect Microsoft to sweeten its bid, possibly to $35 a share,
to clinch a deal.
"There is nothing new in terms of the process. We've sent
our letter and we've reinforced that we consider that it's a
very fair offer," said Gates, who remains the public face of
Microsoft, even though he plans to switch to a part-time role
at the company in June to focus on his philanthropic work.
Microsoft's stock has fallen 13 percent since its offer for
Yahoo, reducing Microsoft's offer price to $29. Yahoo shares
closed at $29.66 on the Nasdaq on Friday, indicating that
investors expect Microsoft to raise its bid.
(Reporting by Daisuke Wakabayashi; Editing by Valerie Lee)
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