DAVID GREENE, HOST: NPR's business news starts with a new owner for Yammer.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: Yammer, the social networking company has agreed to sell itself to Microsoft for $1.2 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. Yammer is often called Facebook for the workplace. Co-workers can use it to share files, message one another and organize meetings and events.</s>DAVID GREENE, HOST: Yammer and similar companies are relatively young and not as well-known as Facebook or Twitter, but recently, their values have risen dramatically. They're also seen as a potential threat to Microsoft, a pioneer in workplace software and so Microsoft is intercepting Yammer before it makes an initial public offering. It did the same thing with the video calling company Skype last May for $8.5 billion.
Often called Facebook for the workplace, Yammer lets co-workers share files, message each other and organize meetings and events. Microsoft targeted it much like it did Skype, the video-calling company it bought last May for $8.5 billion.