Microsoft to Buy Norwegian Search Firm

Updated from 11:40 AM EST

SAN FRANCISCO -- Who said all the big software deals have already been done?

In a move to put some muscle in its business software division, Microsoft(MSFT) announced Tuesday the acquisition of a Norwegian search developer that could strengthen Microsoft's Internet search engine in its battle against Google(GOOG).

Fast Search & Transfer's board accepted Microsoft's offer of 6.6 billion Norwegian kroner, or $1.2 billion, subject to shareholder approval. Fast's two largest institutional shareholders have already accepted the deal.

Microsoft's per-share offer represents a 42% premium to Fast's Jan. 4 closing price.

It's the company's second acquisition within the past year to be valued in the billions of dollars. Microsoft picked up Internet advertising specialist aQuantive in mid-2007 for $6 billion, the company's largest acquisition to date.

With the fast pace of big mergers in the software sector over the past two years, some analysts have said the industry will see mostly small "tuck-in" acquisitions in 2008.

Fast's search software will be integrated into the Microsoft Office SharePoint server. The combination of Fast's search engine with SharePoint will give business users a broader choice of capabilities, Business Division President Jeff Raikes said on a conference call.

Fast provides high-volume search, allowing businesses to find documents buried inside corporate servers. Corporate search engines must filter for factors that are of particular relevance to business users, a level of sophistication lacking in Internet search, Raikes said.