- Reuters, Thursday, October 29, 2009 12:50 PM
Judging by conversations with various analysts, Reuters has all but concluded that Microsoft is about to buy, or at least partner, with IAC/InterActiveCorp's stagnated search engine Ask.com.
"Microsoft Corp is viewed as the most likely buyer or partner ... if CEO Barry Diller decides to throw in the towel," the news source writes.
That assumption, meanwhile, rests
on a specific interpretation of comments Diller gave earlier this week on a conference call with Wall Street analysts. "Diller effectively hung a 'for sale' sign on Ask.com," Reuters writes, by
calling the search business "challenging," and its future "speculative." Then, answering questions about whether he would consolidate Ask, Diller said, "The answer is 'Yes.' And it is unlikely that we
would be the consolidator."
Granted, Ask's share of the search marketplace seems to have stalled indefinitely at about 4% despite millions and millions of dollars in TV advertising,
vertical marketing partnerships with the likes of NASCAR, and various technological innovations.
Microsoft, meanwhile, is indeed seeking distribution deals with any number of partners to
compete against Google. And, according to Reuters, the software giant "is viewed as willing to spend to bulk up its search share."
"Right now, Microsoft wants share so they could pick up
those points from Ask," Colin Gillis, an analyst at Brigantine Advisors, tells Reuters. "Plus it has a double impact since Google powers Ask's paid search."
Later in the story, Reuters
does concede that the soon-to-be-independent AOL does present an interesting partnership opportunity for Diller's IAC. Indeed, IAC "could be open to a partnership (with AOL?) at some point in the
future if it was beneficial to all parties involved," Credit Suisse analyst John Blackledge wrote this week in a client note.
Why not just buy a stake in AOL? "Such speculation has
dogged IAC because it has around $1.8 billion of cash and barely any debt," Reuters writes, "but Diller has maintained he is only interested in small acquisitions."
Read the whole story at Reuters »