Microsoft abandons Yahoo bid
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/may/04/microsoft.yahoo

Microsoft's attempt to buy internet company Yahoo has collapsed after the software firm refused to meet Yahoo's asking price.
Announcing he was pulling out of the purchase, Microsoft's chief executive, Steve Ballmer, said in a letter to his Yahoo counterpart,Jerry Yang, that Microsoft had raised its offer to $47.5bn or $33 per share but was unprepared to meet the $53bn Yahoo wanted. That would have been nearly double Yahoo's share price of $19.18 at the time Microsoft declared its interest three months ago.
Microsoft wanted to buy Yahoo to enable it to compete with Google in the lucrative market for Internet advertising, worth $40bn in 2007 and predicted to double in value by 2010.
The software giant hoped the latest move would offer greater choice to advertisers, increased research and development spending and a route to removing overhead costs.
Yang said: "With the distraction of Microsoft's unsolicited proposal now behind us, we will be able to focus all of our energies on executing the most important transition in our history so that we can maximise our potential to the benefit of our shareholders, employees, partners and users."