WebProNews

It’s been almost a year since I asked whether Fast Search & Transfer was the “comeback kid.”

Well, with Microsoft offering to buy the Norweigian company for $1.2 billion–a 40% premium on its stock price–it appears the answer to the question is a resounding “Yes!”

Microsoft is naming Fast’s expertise and technology for enterprise search as the main reason for the acquisition.

“Enterprise search is becoming an indispensable tool to businesses of all sizes, helping people find, use and share critical business information quickly,” said Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division. “Until now organizations have been forced to choose between powerful, high-end search technologies or more mainstream, infrastructure solutions. The combination of Microsoft and FAST gives customers a new choice: a single vendor with solutions that span the full range of customer needs.”

MSFT will also get their hands on Fast’s AdMomentum technology, which allows web sites to run their one paid search ad platform.

Fast Search & Transfer’s reasons for giving board approval for the deal? Well, let’s just say they have 1.2 billion of them.

Assuming there are no hurdles with approving the deal, expect it to complete sometime in Q2.

Comments