There are many rumors in the Internet circle. Last week, 360 bought Sogou in the form of shares and some cash. Other bidders include Baidu and Tencent. Sohu will use the money from selling Sogou to buy PPTV and other rumors. However, quite surprisingly, all the relevant matters involved are called "rumors". Not only did Sogou CEO Wang Xiaochuan directly point to "rumors" on his microblog, but Qihoo 360 and Baidu both said they would not respond to this when they were interviewed by the Information Times reporter.

Last Friday, Zhang Chaoyang, Chairman and CEO of Sohu, responded for the first time at the group level, stating that Sohu holds $1 billion in cash and does not need Sogou as a "dowry" even if it invests in videos.

Both the acquirer and the acquired party deny it

In early May, the "rumor" that Baidu would acquire PPS became a reality only half a month later, and the Internet circle seemed to prefer "gossip".

Last week, there were frequent rumors in the industry that Sohu wanted to sell Sogou and acquire PPTV in cash. Even the acquisition situation and the future direction of Sogou CEO Wang Xiaochuan were rumored to have been finalized: "360 will acquire Sogou in the form of stocks and some cash, and Sohu will use the money from selling Sogou to acquire PPTV. Sogou CEO Wang Xiaochuan has left, and it is rumored that he will join Alibaba

Regarding this, Sogou CEO Wang Xiaochuan directly pointed out on Weibo that it was "spreading rumors", which he has repeatedly refuted rumors of Sogou being acquired.

In fact, it is not only Sogou's denial of rumors by the parties involved, but also Qihoo 360 and Baidu, in response to inquiries from Information Times reporters, have stated that they will not respond to this matter and will not "spread rumors".

Last weekend, Zhang Chaoyang, Chairman and CEO of Sohu Corporation, publicly stated that Sohu Group currently has sufficient cash flow and a billion US dollars, and will not sell Sogou for the acquisition of PPTV. However, industry insiders pointed out that Zhang Chaoyang did not directly respond to whether Sogou intends to sell, so the rumors still need time to be tested.

Affected by merger rumors, Sohu 360's stock price surged sharply

According to a reporter from the Information Times, Sogou, which is rumored to be selling, has previously sought to go public multiple times. Currently, Sogou's main businesses are Sogou input method, Sogou search, and Sogou browser.

According to the latest report from CNZZ, in April of this year, Baidu's search share was 67.21%, 360's was 14.94%, and Sogou's was 9.15% in the search field. Industry insiders say that the difficulty in breaking through Sogou's market share after Qihoo 360 entered the search field is the incentive for Sogou's "sale" this time.

Stimulated by rumors that 360 will acquire Sogou for $1.4 billion, the stock prices of Sohu and Qihoo 360 have surged in consecutive days. Within a month, Sohu's stock price has risen by 34%, while Qihoo 360's has risen by 28.5%.

Overview of Internet M&A cases

In May 2011, Tencent invested 88.4 million US dollars in Yilong.com;

In June 2011, Qunar announced that it had received a $300 million investment from Baidu;

In September 2011, Renren acquired 56.com for $80 million;

In March 2012, two companies, Youku Tudou, merged;

In April 2013, Alibaba Group invested 586 million US dollars in Sina;

In May 2013, Baidu acquired PPS video business for 370 million US dollars.