The $125M Lesson

An ad agency named A could have been acquired by Yahoo for $125 million. But when A mentioned to Yahoo that it could combine with another company, B, to build a stronger ad business, Yahoo decided B was the more attractive acquisition target and dropped the original plan in favor of buying B instead.

Even though A and B together would have created a better ecosystem, business is war — if a deal doesn’t land, you shouldn’t take it too seriously.

Read original

Expansion:

Beyond the contract, any information that isn’t strictly necessary is optional to disclose. That’s the risk investors must bear.