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Microsoft to buy Greenfield Online for $486 million
Microsoft Corp. on Friday said it will buy Web-based survey company Greenfield Online Inc. for about $486 million in cash in a move that will bolster its search and e-commerce services in Europe.
Microsoft will pay $17.50 a share for Greenfield. The deal tops an earlier proposal by buyout firm Quadrangle Group to acquire the company for $15.50 per share.
The Microsoft offer represents a premium of about 10 percent to the closing price of Greenfield shares on Aug. 25, the day before it said it had received a $17.50 acquisition offer without disclosing its origin.
The deal, Microsoft's first since it failed to acquire Yahoo Inc., will give the software giant access to Ciao.com, Greenfield's popular price comparison and consumer reviews site in Europe.
"Acquiring one of Europe's leading price comparison, shopping and consumer reviews site will further extend Microsoft's search and e-commerce services in Europe," said Tami Reller, chief financial officer for Windows and Online services at Microsoft.
"The team at Ciao has built a passionate consumer community based on intuitive technology and extensive merchant relationships that we believe will deliver incremental benefit to the Microsoft Live Search platform," she added.
Microsoft said it will sell off Greenfield's main business - Internet survey solutions - to an unnamed financial buyer. The unit sells consumer opinions in the form of surveys to marketing research companies.
It expects the acquisition of Greenfield and the sale of its survey-solutions business to close simultaneously in the fourth quarter.
Greenfield will pay a $5 million termination fee to Quadrangle.
Greenfield shares closed up 0.1 percent to $17.25 on Thursday. Microsoft shares closed up 1.4 percent to $27.94.
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© 2008, MarketWatch.com Inc. Visit MarketWatch on the Web at http://www.marketwatch.com Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
The deal, Microsoft's first since it failed to acquire Yahoo Inc., will give the software giant access to Ciao.com, Greenfield's popular price comparison and consumer reviews site in Europe.
"Acquiring one of Europe's leading price comparison, shopping and consumer reviews site will further extend Microsoft's search and e-commerce services in Europe," said Tami Reller, chief financial officer for Windows and Online services at Microsoft.
"The team at Ciao has built a passionate consumer community based on intuitive technology and extensive merchant relationships that we believe will deliver incremental benefit to the Microsoft Live Search platform," she added.
Microsoft said it will sell off Greenfield's main business - Internet survey solutions - to an unnamed financial buyer. The unit sells consumer opinions in the form of surveys to marketing research companies.
It expects the acquisition of Greenfield and the sale of its survey-solutions business to close simultaneously in the fourth quarter.
Greenfield will pay a $5 million termination fee to Quadrangle.
Greenfield shares closed up 0.1 percent to $17.25 on Thursday. Microsoft shares closed up 1.4 percent to $27.94.
___
© 2008, MarketWatch.com Inc. Visit MarketWatch on the Web at http://www.marketwatch.com Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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