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Comment on Tumblr May Reject Yahoo’s $1.1B Acquisition Offer For Being “Too Low”

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If I were a Yahoo shareholder, even at a $1.1bn price tag, I would vote against the acquisition.

> Tumblr has no real revenue, let alone profit, making it a value dilutive acquisition for Yahoo.

> The acquisition price is artificially being inflated by investors who are trying to squeeze Yahoo, who is trying to "turnaround" its profitable business. The $1.1.bn price is already "too high" for Tumblr's true underlying value.

> Yahoo has no track-record of successfully acquiring, integrating and generating value from such acquisitions. Broadcast.com ($5.7bn), GeoCities ($3.6bn), Inktomi ($235m), Overture ($1.6bn), del.icio.us ($20m), Flickr ($?m), and the list goes on.

I feel sorry for Yahoo's retail investors. I guess "greed is good" when it comes to startup acquisitions.

> The acquisition price is artificially being inflated by investors who are trying to squeeze Yahoo, who is trying to "turnaround" its profitable business. The $1.1.bn price is already "too high" for Tumblr's true underlying value.

That's the market. If Yahoo thinks tumblr is worth $1.1B, then Yahoo will pay $1.1B; if not, then they won't. How the price got there (by some artificial inflation or whatever) is irrelevant.

> Yahoo has no track-record of successfully acquiring, integrating and generating value from such acquisitions. Broadcast.com ($5.7bn), GeoCities ($3.6bn), Inktomi ($235m), Overture ($1.6bn), del.icio.us ($20m), Flickr ($?m), and the list goes on.

All the acquisitions cited are 8+ years old. And it is hard to say whether the recent acquisitions (within the past, say, 5 years) are doing well or not.

(I would also vote against the acquisition, but for other reasons)

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