Gates: Microsoft to Go It Alone

Shares of Microsoft close down 1.7%, while Yahoo! ends the session down 0.3%.
By TSC Staff ,

Updated from 12:45

Microsoft

(MSFT) - Get Report

is planning to pursue a standalone strategy now that its bid to acquire

Yahoo!

(YHOO)

has fallen apart, Chairman Bill Gates said at a press conference in Tokyo.

Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, made similar remarks recently concerning the withdrawn offer, which was worth more than $40 billion. Some analysts believe Microsoft could return with a new acquisition attempt, but the remarks of Gates and Ballmer indicate that such a move isn't imminent.

Microsoft originally said it would pay $31 a share for Yahoo!, then sweetened the offer by $2. However, Yahoo! still wanted more, and Microsoft decided to end the takeover effort, which it had proposed in order to better compete with the Internet dominance of

Google

(GOOG) - Get Report

.

"We put a lot of effort in talking with Yahoo! and the conclusion was reached that we should pursue our independent paths," Gates said at the press conference, according to a

Bloomberg

report.

Shares of Microsoft ended Wednesday down 1.7% at $29.21, and Yahoo! finished down 0% at $25.64. Google closed down 1.3% at $579.

Elsewhere among widely held technology stocks,

Apple

(AAPL) - Get Report

ended down 2.2%,

Intel

(INTC) - Get Report

eased 1.7%, and

IBM

(IBM) - Get Report

ended 1.5% higher.

This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.

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