Microsoft Corp. has agreed to buy corporate social-network operator Yammer Inc. for $1.2 billion in cash to help it woo businesses with Facebook-like tools that help employees collaborate in the workplace.
San Francisco's Yammer will become part of Microsoft's Office division, and the team will continue to report to the Yammer Chief Executive Officer the companies said Monday, confirming earlier reports of the sale. Yammer was founded in 2008 by the former chief operating officer at PayPal Inc.
Yammer provides features - similar to those found on Facebook - to more than 200,000 companies such as Ford Motor Co. and eBay Inc. The purchase will help Microsoft compete with corporate social features like Salesforce.com Inc.'s Chatter product, as well as startups such as Jive Software Inc. and Asana Inc., run by a Facebook co-founder.
The Yammer deal follows other recent enterprise software purchases centered on social media. San Francisco's Salesforce.com gained social-marketing tools through its $745 million purchase of Buddy Media Inc. earlier this month, and Redwood City's Oracle Corp. recently bought two companies that analyze data on social-media sites. Those are Vitrue Inc. and Collective Intellect Inc.
For information on website optimization or for the latest SEO News, visit the SEO Done Right
blog.
For more national and worldwide Business News, visit the Peak News
Room blog.
For more local and state of Michigan Business News, visit
the Michigan Business News blog.
For more Health News, visit the
Healthcare and Medical News blog.
For more Electronics
News, visit the Electronics America blog.
For more Real Estate News,
visit the Commercial and Residential Real Estate blog.
For more Law News,
visit the Nation of Law blog.
For more Advertising
News, visit the Advertising, Marketing and Media blog.
For more Environmental News,
visit the Environmental Responsibility News blog.
