Instead of dining at the Xihu State Guesthouse with local government officials during his visit to Hangzhou, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer chose to talk with Alibaba Chairman Ma Yun (Jack Ma). It is rumored that besides further reinforcement of bilateral cooperation, the two also discussed Microsoft’s again possible acquisition of Yahoo.
Mr. Ballmer said during an earlier interview that Microsoft has begun to resume acquisition talks over Yahoo’s search business, and was ready for the new round of negotiation.
Earlier, Ma Yun and senior Alibaba officials had visited Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz during their visit to the US. Alibaba is considered to be Yahoo’s best asset/partner in Asia, as well as its largest market and profit maker. According to the agreement between Yahoo and Alibaba, if Yahoo is acquired by another company, Alibaba has the right to buy back Yahoo’s stake in the company.
Earlier Alibaba formed a strategic alliance with Microsoft and promoted Microsoft software on its SAAS platform. However, both Microsoft and Alibaba refused to reveal whether Ballmer and Ma talked about the acquisition of Yahoo during their meeting. Ma said that after his long chat with Ballmer in Hangzhou, he felt cooperation with Microsoft on a capital level in any form "would be possible."
During his stay in Beijing, Ballmer did not speak with government officials or PC makers, but with senior officials of banks, telecoms, and dot com companies.
Microsoft chooses when to contact Chinese local governments. The government of Hangzhou has signed a three-year memorandum with Microsoft on a series of cooperation projects. Meanwhile, the two will also establish an institute and Microsoft will offer relevant courses and teaching materials for the institute and help to train teachers.
The cooperation model between Microsoft and local governments seems very attractive. Chongqing is also trying to attract more foreign investment by reinforcing intellectual property right protection.
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