USA Today reported Thursday morning that the DOJ had sought advice from at least two investment banks about the ramifications of a Microsoft breakup.
All options are open.
We have not focused on any one remedy. According to USA Today, bankers at the two firms, who requested anonymity, said DOJ officials wanted an assessment of where the logical breakup points of Microsoft were and a valuation of what the market reaction would be. Both firms declined, the paper says, because they were concerned about the impact of siding with a department viewed in the business community as interventionist. Sources close to the landmark antitrust case indicated the report was overblown and that such inquiries were probably standard operating procedure for a case of this magnitude, not necessarily a sign that divvying up the software giant would be the preferred penalty the courts will seek. At the close of the witness phase of the trial last month, both sides were unsure if District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson would request oral arguments or whether he would prefer to simply have both sides submit written closing arguments with their findings of fact.