
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 21, 1995                   TAG: 9505230038
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO                                LENGTH: Medium

MICROSOFT HALTS INTUIT PLAN

The Microsoft Corp. said on Saturday that it was abandoning its planned $2 billion acquisition of Intuit Inc., which would have been the largest deal ever in the software industry, because of the Justice Department's legal challenge and the possibility of protracted litigation.

Scuttling the deal with Intuit, whose Quicken software is by far the most popular personal-finance computer program, will significantly slow Microsoft's entry into the world of electronic commerce and could alter the choices that consumers have among computerized financial and banking services in years to come.

On April 28, the Justice Department filed suit to block the deal, saying it would lead to higher prices for consumers and less innovation in the market for personal finance software. At the time, William H. Gates, Microsoft's chairman and chief executive, said: ``Our enthusiasm for bringing Intuit and Microsoft together is very, very strong, exactly as it was when we first announced the plan to come together.''

But Microsoft said on Saturday that it was backing off rather than facing months of wrangling with the government in court. On Friday, the Justice Department accused lawyers for Microsoft and Intuit of acting in bad faith and asked a federal judge to push back the opening of a trial scheduled to begin on June 26 in federal District Court in San Francisco.

``We're disappointed not to be able to combine Intuit and Microsoft on a timely basis,'' Gates said Saturday afternoon. ``This is a fast-paced industry experiencing lots of change. Progress toward realizing our goals could not wait until the government's lawsuit was resolved.''

Anne K. Bingaman, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, said in a statement: ``We are gratified that Microsoft and Intuit have abandoned their plans to merge. This is truly a victory for American consumers.''

by CNB