Given the hue and cry about Yahoo!'s expected layoffs and its less than perfect market performance in Q4, the word about the possible bid by Microsoft had already been in the air, which has now been translated in to a reality. Would the deal eventually materialize or not?

As the news of the bid came through the stocks showed mixed response on jobs and the Microsoft deal, reported Forbes.

"Microsoft's $44.6 billion, or $31 per share, offer to acquire the internet portal Yahoo sparked an early rise in tech stocks which was joined by the broader market. Stocks then beat a hasty mid-morning retreat from the day's highs, but were back in positive territory.

This acquisition move by Microsoft would put it in a good position to compete with Google, at present it lags behind a bit. While Microsoft has made a well thought out decision, "This is a decision we have – and I have – thought long and hard about,.. We are confident it's the right path for Microsoft and Yahoo." said Ballmer at a conference, but how Yahoo! actually reacts is still to be known.

This is not the first bid by the Redmond giant on Yahoo! rather a third one, the earlier ones were rejected by Yahoo!. If you were to consider the past behavior of Yahoo! then this bid too is gonna go over the cliff, yet it needs to be remembered that times have changed since the previous bids, so we could see a different response this time. Let's wait and watch!

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