Microsoft said to agree to buy Yammer for US$1.2 billion
Source: BI-ME with Bloomberg , Author: Posted by BI-ME staff
Posted: Sat June 16, 2012 11:49 pm



Run MS Office Pro
2010 on latest Win7
Ultimate OS to
increase your
business confidence




Buy HP Pavilion
 laptop with Corsair
DDR3 RAM for
superb performance




Need a personal loan
in Dubai? Contact
Citibank UAE for all
of your banking needs

INTERNATIONAL. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the world’s largest software maker, has agreed to purchase Yammer Inc., operator of a social network for businesses, for US$1.2 billion, said a person familiar with the matter.

The deal is expected to be announced by the end of June, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. Dee Anna McPherson, a spokeswoman for Yammer, declined to comment on a potential acquisition, as did Frank Shaw, a spokesman for Microsoft.

Microsoft could add Yammer’s corporate social networking tools to its Office and SharePoint software products for businesses. Large information-technology companies are snapping up nimbler startups, sometimes before they reach an initial public offering, spending US$17.4 billion on enterprise software acquisitions in 2011, compared with US$715.5 million in 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

A deal for Yammer would follow other recent enterprise software purchases centered around social media. Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) gained social-marketing tools through its US$745 million purchase of Buddy Media Inc. earlier this month, and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) recently bought two companies that analyze data on social-media sites -- Vitrue Inc. and Collective Intellect Inc.

San Francisco-based Yammer was founded in 2008 by David Sacks, the former chief operating officer at PayPal Inc. It has raised more than US$140 million in funding from venture firms, including Charles River Ventures Inc. and Emergence Capital Partners.

Yammer is used by more than 200,000 companies, including Ford Motor Co. and EBay Inc. (EBAY) It provides features for internal corporate use that are similar to those found on Facebook Inc. (FB)’s website. Yammer competes with Jive Software Inc. (JIVE), Chatter, run by Salesforce.com., and Asana Inc., Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz’s company.

Microsoft shares rose 2.3% to US$30.02 at yesterday’s close in New York. The stock has increased 16% this year.

 

MIDDLE EAST BUSINESS COMMENT & ANALYSIS

date:Posted: May 24, 2013
INTERNATIONAL. A currency war is different from any other kind of conventional war in that the object is to kill oneself. The nation that succeeds in inflicting the most damage on its own citizens wins the war. The only real way to win is not to play.
date:Posted: May 23, 2013
UAE. Stock market indices racing ahead but GDP figures do not support the euphoria and commodity outflows fuel the rally; Is there too much liquidity in the banking system?
date:Posted: May 23, 2013
UAE. While new orders continued to rise sharply, the rate of increase eased to the slowest in a year. Meanwhile, employment levels rose at the fastest pace in two years.
UAE. "There is a substantial amount of debt that is coming due in the next few years, and it will be important to manage pro-actively that process. Information and communication with potential market participants will be a key part of this."



Wide selection of craft tools and coloured pencils will give more options to your creative side


Doing business in the Middle East? Your starting point is GulfTradeHolding, the Middle East Business Directory