Microsoft Corp. has reached a $30 million settlement with South Korea"s Daum over an antitrust suit, but regulators will continue to review their case against the world"s largest software maker. Shares in Daum Communications Corp., the country"s top Web portal operator, jumped nearly 9 percent on Friday after the two firms announced the agreement, which includes a $10 million cash payment by Microsoft to Daum, $10 million in advertising deals and unspecified business terms worth a further $10 million.
Analysts say the payment would alleviate a cash shortage at Daum, which acquired Lycos Inc. last year and has been suffering heavy costs linked to restructuring efforts at the U.S. portal. "It"s quite a lot of money for Daum, although the agreement will have little impact on its fundamentals or Microsoft"s dominance in the Korean market," said Lee Wang-sang, an analyst at Woori Investment & Securities.