If Microsoft acquires Sina

Microsoft may have acquired the news of Sina, which immediately aroused continuous attention in China and the United States. Not to mention whether the rumors are true, even if Microsoft acquired Sina, there are many variables

● Possible One: Microsoft wants to buy and Sina does not necessarily want to sell

● May 2: Sina wants to sell, Microsoft may not want to buy

● May 3: Microsoft is actively preparing to acquire Yahoo search services while acquiring Sina

Recent U. S. Media rumors about acquisitions have continued. After making a round of articles around several IT giants in the United States, the tentacles reached China. On July 15, April 13, the financial website TheFlyOnTheWall.com and the research company WedgePartners reported that Microsoft, a software and Internet giant, may acquire Sina, one of China's four major portal websites.

False/false purchase rumors are hard to identify

Once the message was sent out, it immediately aroused continuous attention in China and the United States. A large number of internet media outlets in China have reprinted rumors. In the United States, Sina shares closed at $ April 13 on January 1, 27.75, up 57 cents to 2.1%.

However, in contrast to previous market acquisitions, the US media followed up on comments. The news of Microsoft's acquisition of Sina came out, and the response from the US media was generally dull. One of the few media or even translators that published further News cited the rumor on the Chinese Internet.

Even more, Americans do not trust this rumor. Eric keekje, a well-known technology blog author and IT analyst, wrote that this rumor is unreliable and is unlikely to become a reality. "Although Microsoft promised to invest $1 billion in R & D in China last year, there is no indication that Microsoft needs to operate a Chinese media company to analyze the Company's current business in China ." In the eyes of some Americans, Sina and Microsoft cannot find any clues that match the purchase rumors.

Is there really no clues? Not all. On June 19, March 23, the US media reported that Sina and Microsoft (China) jointly announced their cooperation with Microsoft Windows internetexplorer8 (hereinafter referred to as IE8. According to the introduction of the two companies, the cooperation between Sina and Microsoft on IE8 has lasted more than a year, the cooperation covers webpage compatibility modification, Sina IE8 Portal, development of new IE8 features, and development of Sina customized version IE8 download and development.

In addition to cooperation with Microsoft's new products, the news that Microsoft joined Sina's SMS market once attracted the attention of several other portals in China.

There are many possibilities

If, just to say, the above clues really let Microsoft gradually see the value of Sina in its cooperation with Sina, and finally decide to buy Sina, what will happen? Is there a variable? The answer is yes.

One possible scenario is that Microsoft wants to buy and Sina does not necessarily want to sell. Considering that the acquisition will result in a loss of ownership, many well-known IT companies in China have rejected the licenses acquired by international giants. Shanda network is one of them. Sina's shareholding structure is more complex than Shanda network. Fosun International, the largest shareholder, has held more than 13% of Sina's shares indirectly through the acquisition of revenue share. If Microsoft wants to win Sina successfully, the game with Fosun International is inevitable.

Another possibility is that Microsoft may not want to buy Sina products. Although Sina is no longer a pure online media company, for Microsoft, the acquisition of Yahoo search may still be the first choice to expand its Internet business in the short term. After all, Microsoft's biggest competitor is Google in the United States.

U.S. media quoted people as saying last week that Microsoft CEO Ballmer and Yahoo CEO Butz met last week. In September March, Ballmer once relaxed the acquisition of Yahoo search, saying that the merger of search services between the two sides is "very meaningful" and "The best time ". Batz also pointed out in March that if Microsoft and Yahoo decided to start negotiations, "we will do it in private like other companies ".

To break into the Chinese Internet market, is it possible for Microsoft to acquire Sina while actively preparing to acquire Yahoo search? Of course, this possibility cannot be ruled out. However, according to the reaction in the U.S. market, the benefits of Microsoft's acquisition of Yahoo are obviously higher than that of Microsoft's acquisition of Sina. It is no wonder that the Americans believe that Microsoft is unlikely to start with Sina now.

Yesterday, Microsoft China spokesman Li Kejia said that Microsoft China did not receive any news about Microsoft's acquisition of Sina, so it did not comment. Sina said that Sina did not get the news of Microsoft's acquisition, and whether Microsoft intends to acquire it is a problem of Microsoft. Sina cannot confirm it. Jiang Nanchun, chairman of Sina's largest individual shareholder, said he did not receive any news about the purchase.