Microsoft bids for Norway's Fast

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.

Fast designs real-time data search and filtering software and helps filter internal corporate sites. Its clients include Dell Inc and IBM, and it has been viewed by industry analysts as a takeover candidate.

"The problem businesses have around the world is they generate lots of files and they don't know where they put them," said Kim Caughey, senior equity analyst at Fort Pitt Capital, which holds about 203,000 Microsoft shares.

"Microsoft has had desktop search for a while but it really does need a more corporate approach to tracking and storing," she said.

Fast said its board had unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the Microsoft offer, which represents a 42 percent premium to Fast's closing share price on January 4, the last day on which it traded.

The offer values the fully diluted equity of Fast at 6.6 billion Norwegian crowns, or about $1.2 billion.

Shareholders with 37 percent of Fast's stock, including its two biggest institutional investors -- Norway's Orkla and Hermes Focus Asset Management Europe -- have agreed to accept the offer, Fast and Microsoft said.

Fast shares, which were suspended all day on Monday, jumped to the bid level of 19 crowns per share and then eased off slightly to 18.80

News Source : Samachar