The following is an excerpt from Reuters.com | July 2, 2012 |
(Reuters) – Microsoft Corp ratcheted back growth expectations for its Internet and search engine unit on Monday as it took a $6.2 billion write-down on the value of an online advertising company it bought five years ago.
The charge will likely wipe out any profit for the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, the results of which are expected later this month.
Microsoft bought Internet advertising company aQuantive in 2007 in an attempt to catch rival Google Inc in the race for revenues from search-related advertising.
The $6.3 billion deal was Microsoft’s biggest at the time, but it never proved a success. As a result of its annual assessment of goodwill – the amount paid for a company above its net assets – Microsoft said it would take a non-cash charge of $6.2 billion, effectively indicating that the aQuantive acquisition is now worthless.
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