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Microsoft Purchases Yammer in $1.2-Billion Deal

One of the world’s biggest tech firms has reached an agreement to buy Yammer, a software company that creates social networks for corporations. Microsoft and Facebook seem to be in a race to see which company can burn through its cash assets faster. Both companies have made billion-dollar bids in recent months to buy upstart software and tech firms, and Microsoft has just added another company to its list of subsidiaries.  

By Lindsey Peacock /

Microsoft-Yammer deal | BCBusiness
Microsoft confirmed the company would be buying upstart San Francisco company Yammer for $1.2 billion.

One of the world’s biggest tech firms has reached an agreement to buy Yammer, a software company that creates social networks for corporations.


Microsoft and Facebook seem to be in a race to see which company can burn through its cash assets faster. Both companies have made billion-dollar bids in recent months to buy upstart software and tech firms, and Microsoft has just added another company to its list of subsidiaries.
 
The company confirmed it had reached a deal this week to acquire Yammer, a software company out of San Francisco, which creates in-house social networks for corporate employees. The company boasts major corporate clients such as Ford Motor Co. and Deloitte.
 
Yammer will maintain its office in San Fran, and the injection of Microsoft’s cash will allow the fledgling five-year-old company expand its services to more corporate clients. The acquisition will also meet a market need for Microsoft, which attempted to create project collaborations through its MySite feature in SharePoint.
 
The move comes just a few weeks after Facebook bought up $550 million in Microsoft patents and offered another billion to buy Instagram, a small upstart that had yet to post any revenues.