Microsoft today made an unsolicited cash proposal to buy search engine group Yahoo for $44.6 billion. The proposed offer price--with a cash and shares alternative--is below Yahoo's 52-week high of $34.08 reached last October. Yahoo did not respond immediately.,br> Microsoft is striking as Wall Street has grown increasingly disillusioned with Yahoo. It signaled that a combination of the two companies would provide stronger competition for Google, the leading Internet search engine. It says the proposed combination could generate synergies and would benefit from economies of scale in the online advertising market. Henry Blodget, the former technology analyst, says …

Burt's Bees criticizes the industrial-strength ingredients long found in conventional beauty brands in an ad that's among six scheduled to appear in issues of magazines such as People, Oprah, Allure, and Real Simple starting Feb. 5. The ad compares the beeswax in Burt's to the petrolatum found in other products. It's the first major national ad campaign under new owner Clorox. Beeswax is a "naturally replenishing moisturizer made by bees," while petrolatum, Burt's says, is a "non-renewable hydrocarbon made from crude oil" that leaves a "greasy film that could contain contaminants." Mike Indursky, chief marketing and strategic officer …

Florsheim--the century old Milwaukee-based shoe company known for its wing tips--hopes to reinvigorate its mid-tier brand with a premium line by menswear designer Duckie Brown that will be introduced in summer 2009. Duckie Brown co-designers--Steven Cox from London and Daniel Silver from Toronto--are known for sending particularly outlandish styles down the runway, such as male models in shirt dresses, gold-lamé sequin hoodies and trousers decorated with giant peonies. The label is carried in only about 18 stores worldwide. John Florsheim, president of Weyco Group and its Florsheim unit, says the company considered bigger names but decided to go with …

Amazon.com is buying online audio book seller Audible Inc.--whose catalog includes about 80,000 audio books, radio programs, spoken word selections and other digital content for download--for $300 million. The offer of $11.50 per share represents a 23% premium over Audible's closing price Wednesday. Audible's brand and Web sites will continue to operate. The companies have been partners since 2000, when they launched an e-book and audio-book store on Amazon.com companies with Microsoft. Increasing the amount of digital content Amazon sells will help the company improve margins. In the last year, Amazon has bulked up its own digital content …

Motorola--which has been the largest and most successful cell-phone manufacturer in the U.S. largely on the back of its Razr--says it is considering separating the cell-phone division from the rest of its businesses, possibly through a sale. Motorola has failed to produce a best-selling phone that could match the allure of the Razr, which debuted in 2004. The unit tumbled last year from No. 2 in the world behind Nokia to No. 3 behind Samsung Electronics. It has negative margins; scant toehold in the sizzling market for third-generation phones that download photos, videos, and other data at high speeds; …