Microsoft Offers $1.2 Billion for Enterprise Search Company

Published: January 9, 2008

by Alex Woodie

Microsoft this week announced plans to purchase Fast Search & Transfer, a Norwegian developer of enterprise search software.

Fast, as the company is known, specializes in the development of search software used by corporations and government agencies to search their internal data stores. The software is used by about 3,000 customers, and would most likely end up as part of Microsoft's SharePoint Services software if the acquisition goes through.

Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division, says the Fast software would make a good addition to Microsoft's arsenal. "Until now organizations have been forced to choose between powerful, high-end search technologies or more mainstream, infrastructure solutions," he says. "The combination of Microsoft and Fast gives customers a new choice: a single vendor with solutions that span the full range of customer needs."

Microsoft's offer of 19 Norwegian kroner per share for the publicly traded company represented a 42 percent premium to Fast's closing price on Monday. The acquisition has the backing of Fast's board of directors, and will be voted on by shareholders during a meeting next week.