Microsoft bids $1.2 billion for search firm Fast
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OSLO/LAS VEGAS  - Microsoft Corp  bid $1.2  billion to buy Norwegian business search software company Fast  Search & Transfer  in a deal focused on helping  corporations manage and sift through their own files, a growing  market also targeted by Google Inc .
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Enterprise search companies and analysts say Microsoft's deal to buy FASTshows the market has arrived.
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Microsoft Corp. on Monday became the second tech-industry giant to offer software for searching through computer desktops - a technology it claims is vastly superior to that launched by Google two months ago.
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On Thursday, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) MSN division launched a beta version of a search engine that appears designed to compete directly with Web search leader Google.
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Microsoft Corp  has bid 19 crowns  per share for Norwegian Internet search software firm Fast  Search & Transfer , valuing the company at about $1.2  billion, the companies said on Tuesday.
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SEATTLE - Microsoft has become the second tech-industry giant to offer software for searching through computer desktops, a technology it claims is superior to that launched by Google two months ago.
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InfoWorld - Microsoft has offered to buy enterprise search software company Fast Search And Transfer for 6.6 billion Norwegian kroner ($1.2 billion), it said Tuesday.
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Microsoft Friday unveiled a bid of 44.6 billion dollars for Yahoo in an effort to merge the world's biggest software company with a major Internet player to take on the Google juggernaut.
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In a bid to halt Google's growing dominance online, Microsoft has offered to buy struggling Internet giant Yahoo for $44.6 billion, an acquisition that would unite the world's most influential software company with the Web's most-trafficked site.
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Microsoft Corp. has offered to buy struggling internet search provider Yahoo for $44.6 billion, a merger that would combine two of the technology world's most well-known names into a potentially potent competitor for Google in the lucrative Web search and advertising market.
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In November, Microsoft representatives began to comment that the enterprise search market had reached &quot;a tipping point&quot;; on Tuesday, the company backed up that claim with a bundle of cash,&#160;offering to buy enterprise search software company Fast Search And Transfer (FAST)&#160;for 6.6 billion Norwegian kroner ($1.2 billion).Analysts and other search firms said Tuesday the move means that enterprise search has truly arrived as a software category, and also that further consolidation will likely occur in the space, creating opportunities for niche players.No immediate stumbling blocks appear to be in the way of Microsoft buying FAST, which is based in Oslo. The company&#39;s board has recommended that shareholders accept the offer, which represents a premium of 42 percent over FAST&#39;s share price at close of business on Friday. The companies expect the deal to close in the second quarter.&quot;It&#39;s a great bit of technology acquisition for Microsoft,&quot; said Mike Davis, senior analyst with Ovum Group.Microsoft is buying FAST as a way to break into the high-end enterprise search market and also offer customers a full range of search products. In November, it&#160;introduced Search Server 2008 and Search Server Express 2008. Microsoft is pitching Search Server 2008 as a cheap entry into enterprise search, while the Express version is free for single installations.FAST&#39;s rivals include Autonomy -- which recently acquired Meridio and Zantaz -- and Endeca.Davis said it would not surprise him if a rival vendor, such as Oracle, follows up Microsoft&#39;s move with a high-end search acquisition of its own.He and another analyst suggested Tuesday that Microsoft has not only scooped up a solid company but got a bargain in the process.Guy Creese, an analyst with Burton Group, argued on his blog that FAST&#39;s recent financial troubles, which led to layoffs last year, probably helped drive down its price tag.&quot;While the operational wheels fell off, the FAST technology is strong at its core,&quot; added Creese, who called the pending deal &quot;a huge coup&quot; for Microsoft.But cost was not the driving factor in Microsoft&#39;s choice of FAST over other high-end search vendors in the space, according to Jeff Raikes, president of Microsoft&#39;s business division.Raikes insisted during a conference call Tuesday afternoon that FAST simply had the best people and technology.The executive didn&#39;t shed much light on the negotiation process that led up to Tuesday&#39;s announcement, but did indicate one aspect of Redmond&#39;s immediate plans, assuming the deal closes as expected.&quot;I can simply say that part of what we will look at ... will be to marry the strengths we have with our software-plus-services model with what FAST is doing.&quot;Raikes said FAST&#39;s technological strengths, such as its scalability and domain-specific searching capabilities, proved attractive to Microsoft.He declined to say whether the FAST acquisition will have any impact on Microsoft&#39;s Internet search products, but did not rule out the possibility.Raikes asserted that Microsoft will emerge as the go-to vendor for enterprise search customers once the deal is finalized.&quot;We think most customers are recognizing that they don&#39;t want their enterprise search to be fragmented across the organization,&quot; he said. &quot;Customers are going to want to choose a search strategy and the offerings from one vendor.&quot;Despite that view, Tuesday&#39;s news had smaller, specialized enterprise search vendors, such as Brainware, brimming with confidence, at least publicly.&quot;We&#39;re excited because it really heightens the importance of enterprise search applications,&quot; said Brainware&#39;s CFO and general counsel, James Zubok. &quot;But the biggest reason we&#39;re excited is that technology like ours is highly complementary [to broader offerings],&quot; he said.Brainware claims its search software can return useful results even when search terms are misspelled, or from illegible documents.Robert Tennant, CEO of Recommind, a search company that focuses on e-discovery, said Microsoft&#39;s move foretells a changing role for search. &quot;We believe that search is really important to the next generation of all software,&quot; he said. &quot;It provides information access with context. We believe that you&#39;ll see search ... woven within the fabric of other applications.&quot;Tennant also predicted it will be &quot;many years&quot; before Microsoft will produce specialized, vertical search products like those offered by Recommind.Raul Valdes-Perez, CEO of Vivisimo, which makes the Velocity Search Platform for enterprises, echoed the notion that Microsoft&#39;s investment is good for the market overall. &quot;I think we will have, eventually, one less competitor and many more partners,&quot; he said.But he also argued that the real beneficiaries of such consolidation could be companies like his own. &quot;I think there&#39;s a lot of uncertainty, and in this environment enterprise customers are going to look for predictability.&quot;Microsoft&#39;s stock was down $1.14 in late trading Tuesday to $33.47, on a bad day overall for the market.IDG News Service&#39;s Peter Sayer contributed to this report.
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Redmond-based Microsoft Corp. on Thursday launched a test version of its new MSN Search service, hoping to compete with Google and other major Web search services.
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OSLO/NEW YORK  - Microsoft Corp  made a  $1.2 billion offer to buy Norwegian Web search software company  Fast Search & Transfer  in a deal that would help the  world's largest software maker expand into the market for  business-oriented search.
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Microsoft Corp  said on Monday  that it controls 92.6 percent of Norwegian search software firm  Fast Search & Transfer , and extended its takeover  offer to Thursday from a Friday deadline.
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Beating out Google in a hotly contested advertising deal, Microsoft announces it is making a $240 million investment in Facebook, valuing the social network at $15 billion.
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InfoWorld - Microsoft's $1.2 billion acquisition bid for Oslo-based Fast Search and Transfer and a dour report on Amazon marked the new year's first full trading week in the United States, as technology company share prices continued to slide.
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Microsoft Corp. is offering $44.6 billion in cash and stock for search engine operator Yahoo Inc. in a move to boost its competitive edge in the online services market