Microsoft Buys SF Internet Startup Yammer For $1.2B

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) - Microsoft is paying $1.2 billion to buy San Francisco-based Yammer, an Internet startup that has built a social network similar to Facebook for the business world.

The deal announced Monday comes nearly two weeks after word of Microsoft's negotiations with Yammer first leaked out in published reports.

The acquisition represents Microsoft's latest attempt to adapt to a major shift in the technology industry, one that is fueling demand for more Internet services and social networking tools. That shift is threatening to weaken Microsoft's position as the world's largest software maker.

Last year, Microsoft Corp. bought Internet video chat service Skype for $8.5 billion in the biggest acquisition in the company's 37-year history.

Yammer had raised about $142 million since its inception four years ago.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)