Corporate & Securities Law

Hostile Takeover Reality

By John Wallbillich

So Microsoft walks away from Yahoo.

My take: there’s a reason you rarely see large-scale hostile takeovers in the tech world. The real assets don’t just walk out the door every day, but you need most of their hearts and all of their minds to compete.

Rather like big law firm mergers?

Three other notable perspectives:

– Former O?Melveny & Myers and Wilson Sonsini lawyer (and current Time 100 man) Michael Arrington speculates that Steve Ballmer may be angling for a better deal. (I doubt it).

– Kara Swisher gives a look through the prism of a classic TV show, and shows why the potential combined company never really had a chance.

– Fake Steve Jobs is unsparing in his viewpoint, with a YouTube video at the end that’s part Mel Brooks and part Microsoft annual sales meeting.

Full post as published by The Wired GC on May 04, 2008 (boomark / email).