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Microsoft publicly withdrew its $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo! after Yahoo! declined on the basis of undervaluation. The two companies could be negotiating for months or years, much like Oracle's hostile takeover of BEA Software. Industry observers believe Yahoo! could do well with Microsoft as a buyer or partner, few other companies would be capable of offering so much money, and Yahoo! could add better future shareholder value with Microsoft than without. Observers looked at the deal during the two weeks since the announcement, and concluded 'that the deal will happen' and will add value for Microsoft. Yahoo!'s mobile Internet service and associated advertising are very attractive and compete very well with Google. A Bear Stearns analyst stated that Microsoft believes Yahoo!'s mobile advertising capabilities are very promising and could capture 5 percent of the market during the next three years, generating another $1 billion. Microsoft feels its offer to combine companies was fully fair and Yahoo!'s rejection 'unfortunate.' Nevertheless, Microsoft is confident of shareholder approval from both companies. In the meanwhile, Yahoo! is beginning a planned turnaround, product enhancements, and reportedly met with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. about MySpace and other online property combinations. The company's investing in better scale and boosting its 'algorithmic search tenfold.' It's acquired online video platform maker Maven Networks. In addition, Yahoo!'s OneSearch was chosen as T-Mobile's exclusive service for its European customers, replacing Google's mobile search software. OneSearch currently has over 600 million subscribers. The deal was announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, where Nokia announced it will integrate Google's search engine into its own application.
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