Microsoft Bids for Norwegian Search Engine Firm
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Microsoft bid $1.2 billion for Fast Search and Transfer, based in Oslo, in an effort to add more tools to its lucrative Office products.
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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.The acquisition will bring Microsoft powerful high-end search technologies to complement its enterprise infrastructure offering, the company said.Microsoft&#39;s recent efforts in the enterprise search market have been aimed at the other end of the market. In November, It introduced two new low-end enterprise search products,&#160;Search Server 2008 and Search Server Express 2008, both based on its SharePoint Server 2007 business productivity platform. It is pitching&#160;Search Server 2008&#160;as a cheap entry into enterprise search, while the Express version is free for single installations.By integrating Fast Search&#39;s products with SharePoint, and drawing on its worldwide network of partners, Microsoft hopes to bring Fast Search&#39;s products to a wider audience, it said Tuesday.It is also counting on Fast Search&#39;s Norwegian research team to bolster its research efforts in Europe. Microsoft has laboratories in Cambridge, England, and in Copenhagen, Denmark.The directors of Fast Search, based in Oslo, have recommended that shareholders accept the offer, which represents a premium of 42 percent over Fast Search&#39;s share price at close of business on Friday. The companies expect the deal to close in the second quarter, subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of the holders of at least 90 percent of Fast Search&#39;s shares.Fast Search&#39;s rivals in the market for specialized enterprise search tools include Google, with its Search Appliance; French search company Exalead, and Autonomy, which recently acquired Meridio and Zantaz.Representatives of Fast Search could not immediately be reached for comment.&#160;
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A small Norwegian software company says with a level playing field it can take on mighty Microsoft Corp.  in a new battle of the browsers because it has a better product, picking up where the now-defunct Netscape left off in the 1990s.
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Microsoft (MSFT) unveils its much-talked-about revamped Internet search engine on Thursday to compete with Google and Yahoo - but at a test site rather than the main MSN page.
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Microsoft&#39;s $1.2 billion acquisition bid for Oslo-based Fast Search and Transfer and a dour report on Amazon marked the new year&#39;s first full trading week in the United States, as technology company share prices continued to slide.The increase in tech share prices that occurred in 2007 -- a banner year for IT company earnings -- appears to be in danger of evaporating, as fears of a general downturn and bad news on the consumer front resound among industry insiders. U.S. Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke&#39;s announcement on Thursday that he would move to cut interest rates to spur growth provided only a temporary halt to a decline in the Nasdaq Composite Index, which closed Friday at 2,440, down 212 points from its close at the end of 2007.This week, investment banking firm Goldman Sachs forecast that the United States will suffer a recession this year. Company analyst David Kostin reduced his recommendation for the amount of technology stocks that investors should keep in their portfolios, from 19 percent to 15 percent.Investors usually like to keep a good percentage of their holdings in tech stocks to hedge their bets. IT companies are truly global, with major U.S. vendors earning about 50 percent of their revenue outside their home countries.But inside the United States, tech companies are getting hit with a double whammy: a predicted weakening of consumer spending because of falling home prices and a resulting crisis in financial markets. Up to 18 percent of U.S. and global tech spending comes from financial companies, according to Forrester Research.Turmoil in the financial markets will likely dampen tech buyouts from private equity investors, according to the 451 Group&#39;s Tech Banking Outlook Survey, released this week. But that might not stop cash-rich technology companies from continuing to shop for deals, it noted.On Tuesday,&#160;Microsoft announced that it would buy enterprise search software company Fast Search And Transfer&#160;for 6.6 billion Norwegian kroner ($1.2 billion). Microsoft said it will integrate Fast Search&#39;s high-end search technologies into its enterprise infrastructure offerings, including SharePoint Server 2007 business productivity platform.Microsoft is locked in a search battle with Google, not just for general Web searches but also for businesses. Fast Search shares got an immediate boost on the Oslo exchange, where its price jumped from 13.35 kroner to close at 18.80 kroner Tuesday. The deal did not keep Microsoft shares from sliding in a generally down market for tech, however.On the consumer side, investors were particularly spooked by comments on Tuesday from AT&amp;T CEO Randall Stephenson, who said the company has had to stop servicing an increasing number of customers who did not pay their bills. The company closed Tuesday at $39.07, down by $1.96 for the day.The news did not bode well for other technology companies that sell to consumers. Citing uncertainty about U.S. consumer spending, American Technology Research Monday put a &quot;sell&quot; rating on Amazon, which then on Tuesday fell by $2.66 to close at $85.22 on the Nasdaq.Even companies that received positive reports from analysts this week were slammed by the general market slide. Lazard Capital Markets started its coverage of virtualization-software darling VMware, which had a successful IPO last month, by issuing a &quot;buy&quot; rating on Tuesday. VMware&#39;s share price jumped by $5.39 to close at $79.89 Wednesday, but slid back to $77.53 by the end of the week.
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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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Microsoft bid $1.2 billion for Fast Search & Transfer, which specializes in high-end Internet search and business intelligence systems now used by many major companies.
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A small Norwegian software company  says with a level playing field it can take on mighty Microsoft  Corp.  in a new battle of the browsers because it has a  better product, picking up where the now-defunct Netscape left  off in the 1990s.
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Microsoft said it plans to buy Fast Search & Transfer of Oslo for $1.2 billion to expand into Internet-search systems for businesses.
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New York - Microsoft Corp will roll out its long-awaited internet search service on Thursday, adding fresh competition to Google Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
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Company joins heavyweights Google, MSN, and others in desktop search fray.
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Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O plans to   officially launch on Tuesday its new Windows Live Search   engine, a pillar in its strategy to topple market leader Google   GOOG.O and wrestle away billions of dollars worth of online   advertising.
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Microsoftâs $1.2 billion bid for a Norwegian search software company is seen as an effort to add tools to its lucrative Office products and fend off Google.
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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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WASHINGTON (US): Microsoft&#39;s new search engine launched Thursday opens a new front for the world&#39;s biggest software company in a new war -- for control of the Internet, analysts said.
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Microsoft Corp  said on Monday that it controls 92.6 percent of Norwegian search software firm Fast Search &amp; Transfer , and extended its takeover offer to Thursday from a Friday deadline.
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Microsoft Corp. plans to officially  launch on Tuesday its new Windows Live Search engine, a pillar  in its strategy to topple market leader Google and wrestle away  billions of dollars worth of online advertising.