Microsoft bids on Norwegian search firm
Microsoft agreed to pay $1.2 billion for Norway-based online search software company Fast Search & Transfer ASA. The per-share offering price is 42 percent above Fast Search's Jan. 4 closing price. Microsoft said the Fast Search board and shareholders controlling 37 percent of the firm's stock had already agreed to the deal. (
MarketWatch) Fast Search provides the custom search software used by companies like Deutsche Telekom and UPS. "Microsoft is investing in enterprise software, and Web search is a central and important part of the area," said analyst Arild Nysaether at Fondsfinans AS in Oslo. (
Bloomberg)