The decision could provoke a showdown between two of the world's most prominent technology companies with Internet search leader Google Inc. looming in the background. Leery of Microsoft expanding its turf on the Internet, Google already has offered to help Yahoo avert a takeover and urged antitrust regulators to take a hard look at the proposed deal.

If the world's largest software maker wants Yahoo badly enough, Microsoft could try to override Yahoo's board by taking its offer — originally valued at $31 per share — directly to the shareholders. Pursuing that risky route probably will require Microsoft to attempt to oust Yahoo's current 10-member board.

Alternatively, Microsoft could sweeten its bid. Many analysts believe Microsoft is prepared to offer as much as $35 per share for Yahoo, which still boasts one of the Internet's largest audiences and most powerful advertising vehicles despite a prolonged slump that has hammered its stock.

Yahoo's board reached the decision after exploring a wide variety of alternatives during the past week, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press. The person didn't want to be identified because the reasons for Yahoo's rebuff won't be officially spelled out until Monday morning.

Microsoft and Yahoo declined to comment Saturday on the decision, first reported by The Wall Street Journal on its Web site.

Yahoo's board concluded Microsoft's offer is inadequate even though the company couldn't find any other potential bidders willing to offer a higher price.

Without other suitors on the horizon, Yahoo has had little choice but to turn a cold shoulder toward Microsoft if the board hopes to fulfill its responsibility to fetch the highest price possible for the company, said technology investment banker Ken Marlin.

"You would expect Yahoo's board to reject Microsoft at first," Marlin said. "If they didn't, they would be accused of malfeasance."

But by spurning Microsoft, Yahoo risks further alienating shareholders already upset about management missteps that have led to five consecutive quarters of declining profits.

The downturn caused Yahoo's stock price to plummet by more than 40 percent, erasing about $20 billion in shareholder wealth, in the three months leading up to Microsoft's bid.

Dell Inc., the world's second- biggest personal-computer maker, said it plans to buy companies to boost its services unit, expanding sales outside its main business of selling PCs.

"I expect to see acquisitions there and significant investment to enable us to build capability in the software and services area," Michael Dell, chief executive officer of the Round Rock, Texas-based company, said today at a press conference in Shanghai. He didn't identify countries or target companies.

Dell is also investing in emerging markets as it lost the top spot in global PC sales to Hewlett-Packard Co. last year and earnings growth slowed, prompting founder Michael Dell to return as chief executive officer in January. The company began selling a cheaper PC in China today, expanding in a market where more than 90 percent of 1.3 billion people don't own computers.

"Faster sales growth in China could really give Dell a boost because of how big the market is and how much potential it has," William Bao Bean, an analyst with Deutsche Securities Co. in Hong Kong, said before the briefing. "Smaller cities and towns are really where the growth is in China because incomes are rising and people are shopping for their first computers.''

He has a "buy" rating on Lenovo Group Ltd., Dell's biggest rival in China.

Dell said the services unit, whose operations include setting up computer networks and providing customer support, has annual sales of about $6 billion. That's about 11 percent of its $55.9 billion revenue in the fiscal year ended Feb. 3.

Oracle shares surged ahead in after-hours trading on Tuesday after the software company reported a 35% jump in third-quarter profits, boosted by its new portfolio of acquisitions and licensing deals.

Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) said strong sales of its applications, which helps businesses maximize efficiency and manage finances, raised earnings for the period that ended Feb.28, to $1.03 billion, or 20 cents per share, from $765 million, or 14 cents per share, for the corresponding period a year ago. On the continuing operations basis, Oracle reported 25 cents per share, solidly beating the Street consensus of 23 cents a share and the company’s December guidance.

The software maker’s shares were up 2.74%, 48 cents, to $18.03 during after-market trading on Tuesday.

After a lackluster second quarter, Oracle managed to secure a slew of new licensing contracts as consumers warmed up to the company’s acquisition strategy.

“There was a lot of consumers on the fence,” said Trip Chowdry, a software analyst for Global Equities Research, in an interview. “They wondered, 'Is Oracle putting enough muscle behind their acquisitions?' Clearly, Oracle has done a strong outreach program to alleviate consumer concerns.”

In a controversial shift in strategy, founder and chief executive officer, Larry Ellison started to gobble up boutique software outfits a few years ago. In three years, Oracle has acquired some 30 companies and put over $23 billion on the line. While it is the reigning database software maker, it is eager to grab market share from SAP (nyse: SAP - news - people ), the top business applications provider.

STAG Capital Partners hired Ted Norberg as its vice president of acquisitions. Based in the Boston office, Norberg will be in charge of managing STAG's acquisition activity for the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions comprising of: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and New England.

Prior to joining STAG Capital Partners, Norberg was a New England area vice president of acquisitions responsible for sourcing, negotiating, and closing assets acquisitions for a 1031 exchange Tenant in Common platform and a value-add opportunity fund with NPV/Direct Invest. Norberg also worked at General Investment and Development, where he performed asset acquisitions for its office and multifamily funds.

Norberg holds a bachelor's from Boston College and achieved his CPA working for three years with Ernst & Young's Mergers and Acquisitions Advisory Group in New York.