Microsoft 'The Great' Poised To Conquer Mid-Market, Once and Again
Part 1: Recent Acquisition Announcement
P.J. Jakovljevic - May 14, 2002

Event Summary

On May 7, after couple of weeks of the press' speculations, and the parties' courting and 'playing hard to get' game, <b>Microsoft Corporation</b> (NASDAQ: MSFT), the world's largest software provider, announced it has reached an agreement to acquire <b>Navision</b> (CSE: NAVI), a Danish provider of enterprise business solutions for mid-sized companies. The acquisition is seen to bring together the complementary geographic and product strengths of Navision with <b>Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions</b>, enhancing Microsoft's ability to deliver interconnected .NET business solutions for small and mid-market businesses. The acquisition is structured as a stock and cash purchase based on an offer to shareholders of 300DKK per share. The total transaction value is estimated at approximately $1.3 billion.<br> <br> <font color="#336699">This is <b>Part 1</b> of a 2-part analysis of the acquisition of Navision by Microsoft.<br> <br> <a href="/Research/ResearchHighlights/Erp/2002/05/news_analysis/NA_ER_PJ_05_15_02_1.asp" target="_blank"><b>Part 2</b></a> covers the challenges this presents and make User Recommendations.</font>..