Microsoft says it will bid for Norwegian Internet search group

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

OSLO (AFP) — US software giant Microsoft said on Tuesday it would offer to buy the Norwegian Internet search company Fast Search and Transfer for 1.2 billion dollars (836 million euros).

Microsoft in a statement said the board of directors at Fast Search had "unanimously recommended that its sharehaolders accept the offer," which should be completed in the second quarter of this year.

It added that the proposal represented a 42 percent premium to Fast Search's closing share price in January 4 and valued the company at 6.6 million Norwegian kroner.

"Enterprise search is becoming an indispensable tool to businesses of all sizes, helping people find, use and share critical business information quickly," said Jeff Raikes, head of the Microsoft Business Division....