Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), in a press release a short time ago, confirmed that the company is acquiring Greenfield Online (NASDAQ: SRVY) , the European shopping and consumer product price comparison company.
In a departure from past acquisition announcements, the statement was issued to several press release newswires, as opposed to Microsoft's own portal for journalists.
This past week. Microsoft raised the bar with an extensive buzz on it's Live.com Search Cashback program, with numerous new partners, as well as some new deeply discounted stores.
Greenfield Online's flagship website is Ciao.com, a popular shopping portal used throughout the EU and beyond.
Microsoft is paying $486 million (US) in cash to acquire Greenfield. The deal remains subject to regulatory and stockholder approvals.
The complete text from PR Newswire can still be found at Yahoo Finance here.