As expected, Microsoft significantly slowed its pace of acquisitions in its recently completed fiscal year, according to new data released by the company this morning as part of its annual Form 10-K fiing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company spent $925 million in cash to buy nine companies during the year, according to the filing. Only one of those, the purchase of video-game company BigPark Inc., was significant enough to warrant a notation on the company's official list of corporate acquisitions. The company is also believed to have acquired Israeli startup 3DV Systems, but that deal was never formally announced.
By comparison, Microsoft spent more than $8 billion on more than 20 acquisitions in its 2008 fiscal year, primarily to buy Seattle-based online advertising company aQuantive Inc. The spending in FY09 more closely matches Microsoft's previous transaction levels.
Chris Liddell, Microsoft's chief financial officer, said earlier this year that Microsoft would be biding its time to wait for valuations of companies to adjust to the new economic realities. But recent debt offerings have given the company additional funds that it could use in acquisitions, if it were to find the right opportunities.
Previous speculation had been that Microsoft would apply at least some of those funds to complete a deal with Yahoo, but the search and advertising partnership announced by the companies yesterday didn't include any sizable upfront payment.
Aquisition prospects are likely to be among the topics discussed at Microsoft's annual Financial Analyst Meeting in Redmond today. TechFlash will be at the company's Redmond campus reporting on the event, so check back throughout the day for details.
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