Microsoft said it has made a cash-and-stock offer to buy Yahoo for $31 a share, according to the Wall Street Journal. The deal would value the company at $44.6 billion. The deal also offers a 62 percent premium over Yahoo's share price at market close yesterday. "We have great respect for Yahoo, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said. "We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners."

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