What Might Have Been: Microsoft Almost Bought SAP

steveorama writes "This article from Bloomberg indicates that 'Microsoft Corp, the world's largest software maker, approached late last year about buying the German company, a combination that would have vaulted it to the biggest seller of software for business applications.'" The talks came out in advance of likely disclosure in the ongoing merger battle involving Oracle, PeopleSoft and the U.S. Department of Justice. An anonymous reader points to this article in the Financial Times, adding "Microsoft says the discussions were halted due to the complexity involved in the transaction and in integrating the two companies. A merger with SAP would be a profound break with previous Microsoft strategy, and would likely have raised eyebrows among regulators."

Comments

SAP? Who?

[fire-eyes]

Uh yeah?

Re:Has anyone noticed

[The Lynxpro]

"That corporate mergers have increased(Peoplesoft&Oracle,Clearchannel) under the Bush administration and no one really cares until you turn on the Cnn/moneyline and notice that the corporations aren't hiring because of HIGH productivity by their businesses. Most hirings come from small business. To me mergers mean only one thing , an attempt to monopolize."

You blame the (George W.) Bush Administration for that? Which political party has catered to the interests of *small business* for twenty plus years? I do think it is the Republican Party. Every time a new *progressive* labor law is unveiled in Congress, it is the Republicans that challenge it until concessions are made for small business tax deductions to make up for the increasing costs.

Which administration did the Time Warner/Turner merger take place in? Which administration was the AOL Time Warner merger first proposed? Which administration allowed SBC to gobble up the majority of the former Baby Bell telcos? T'was not the George W. Bush Administration.

Get your facts straight.