Microsoft Corp. unveiled its plans to buy the Norwegian online-data research company Fast Search & Transfer for $1.2 billion, which added no less than 40% to Fast’s closing share price on January 4. The board of directors of the Oslo-based company unanimously agreed to the world’s largest software developer acquisition, according to a Microsoft representative. The deal has already been sealed with two of Fast Search & Transfer’s largest owners, Orkla ASA and Hermes Focus Asset Management, who make up for 37% of the shares.

“Enterprise search is becoming an indispensable tool to business of all sizes, helping people find, use and share critical business information quickly,” said Jeff Raikes, Microsoft Business Division president. He also added: “Until now organizations have been forced to choose between powerful, high-end search technologies or more mainstream, infrastructure solutions […] The combination of Microsoft and Fast gives customers a new choice: a single vendor with solutions that span the full range of customer needs.”

The upcoming transaction will be completed in the second quarter of 2008 and will help revitalize the Fast Search & Transfer’s profitability, which has been in a downfall lately, losing up to $100 million in the third quarter of 2007. Microsoft’s offer came at the right time for Fast, who had previously been forced to revive its earnings by cutting down on its employees.

John Lervik, CEO of Fast Search & Transfer, said about Microsoft’s decision: “This acquisition gives fast an exciting way to spread our cutting-edge search technologies and innovations to more and more organizations across the world.”

The advisors of the transaction were Goldman, Sachs & Co for Microsoft Corp. and Merrill Lynch Co. for Fast Search & Transfer. The two companies are expected to hold a press conference call later in the day.