Takeover talks between Microsoft Corp. [MSFT] and Yahoo! Inc. [YHOO] were looking a lot like an M&A 101 textbook case by late Monday, when Microsoft offered a firm response to Yahoo!'s rejection of its $44.6 billion bid, saying that it remained confident in the merits of such a combination.

The statement did not specifically address any of Microsoft's options, from increasing its offered price to making a tender offer to Yahoo shareholders, but from the overall tone of its statement, Microsoft seemed less interested in winning Yahoo! by force, than in completing the deal swiftly. Most analysts on Monday said they still put the odds in favor of the deal, even after Yahoo!'s rejection in round one. They noted Yahoo! seemed more interested in playing hard to get, as the recipients of unsolicited takeover offers typically do, than in remaining independent.

For its part, Microsoft seems hopeful that everyone can remain friends through the process. Although it stressed in the firal line of its five-paragraph response that it "reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!'s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal," it also seemed eager to avoid a protracted battle.

"We are confident that moving forward swiftly to consummate a transaction is in the best interest of all parties," Microsoft said.

Analysts following the talks said it was too early to predict how contentious the talks might become. But many speculated that the two parties would ultimately agree on a price somewhere between $34 and $37 per share. -Andrea Orr

See Feb. 11 press release from Microsoft
See Feb. 11 story from TheDeal.com