Microsoft Corp. will hire at least 400 workers from Yahoo Inc. if government regulators approve the companies’ proposed Internet search partnership, and Yahoo will receive $150 million to cover any unexpected costs during the switch to new technology.
Those details emerged Tuesday in a regulatory filing that elaborated on an agreement announced last week.
Sunnyvale-based Yahoo said then that an unspecified number of its 13,000 employees would be offered jobs at Microsoft after the Redmond, Washington-based software maker assumes control of the search results and search advertising on Yahoo’s Web site.
The transition is supposed to begin early next year, assuming the alliance is approved by antitrust regulators in the United States and Europe.
Microsoft will pay $50 million annually during the first three years of the 10-year contract to supplement the revenue that Yahoo will receive from the ads appearing alongside its search results. The $150 million in guaranteed payments weren’t mentioned last week.
Tuesday’s filing said Yahoo can use the $150 million to pay for unforeseen transition costs.
Yahoo’s stock has fallen by about 15 percent since it unveiled the Microsoft deal, largely because announced terms didn’t include a large upfront payment.
Tuesday’s disclosure probably won’t ease the disappointment much, given analysts had anticipated Microsoft paying $1 billion to $2 billion for access to Yahoo’s search engine. Yahoo’s shares ended Tuesday up 17 cents at $14.51. Microsoft eased 6 cents to $23.77.
Most of the revenue from the Microsoft deal will flow from ad commissions. Yahoo will receive 88 percent of the search ad revenue during the first five years of the contract. After that, Yahoo’s commission will range from 83 percent to 93 percent, depending on whether it still handles some of the ad sales in the partnership.
The main reason Yahoo decided to turn over its search engine to Microsoft was to save money. If…