REDMOND, Wash. (Map) - REDMOND, Wash., April 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has completed settlement of its tender offer for Fast Search & Transfer ASA, a leading provider of enterprise search solutions. Microsoft's plans to acquire FAST were originally announced Jan. 8, 2008. FAST will operate as a Microsoft subsidiary, with a dedicated enterprise search research and development center in Oslo, Norway, and offices throughout the world.

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"With our companies combined, we'll be uniquely able to offer customers what they've been telling us they want most -- a strategy for meeting everything from their basic to most complex enterprise search needs," said Jeff Teper, corporate vice president for the Office Business Platform at Microsoft. "I'm incredibly excited to have the talented team from FAST joining us."

John Markus Lervik will transition from his role as FAST CEO to become Microsoft's corporate vice president of Enterprise Search, reporting to Teper. Under Lervik's leadership, the group's charter will include the development of a comprehensive portfolio of enterprise search offerings, including Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express, search for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and FAST ESP, and future delivery of a single enterprise search platform.

"From the moment I started talking to Microsoft about the prospect of bringing our talent and technology together, I realized what a powerful impact we could have on the way companies use search to drive new revenue streams and improve productivity," Lervik said. "Together we'll deliver better technologies that make enterprise search a ubiquitous tool, central to how people find and use information."

Existing FAST customers will continue to be served by their FAST sales, services and support teams, while the combined product lineup immediately extends customer choice. Further innovation across the entire enterprise search portfolio -- on Microsoft Windows as well as on Linux and UNIX -- will help ensure that Microsoft and FAST customers receive best-in-class offerings to meet their current and future needs.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.