Altaba (AABA) [former Yahoo]

Altaba (AABA) [former Yahoo]

Postby fclim » Thu May 08, 2008 10:34 pm

to all gurus,

how about this fella mr yahoo?
do you think mr market over punish it?

if M$ willing to pay up to $31, and its trading for only $25, is it a bargain?
i've not yet checked its financial details though... ;)

have fun,
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Re: Yahoo?

Postby kennynah » Thu May 08, 2008 11:55 pm

fc : first welcome to our new "home"...

i trust you have been following the MSFT / YHOO saga... just a recap...

MSFT offerd in Feb, $31/share or 0.9509 of MSFT share to YHOO shareholders... nothing happened for 2 months...then one morning, Balmer woke up with a hard one and wanted a quickie with Yhoo's Yang...

MSFT threatened to walk away on the day YHOO reported earnings, saying " immaterial what Yhoo's earnings are, they will standby they offer and not a penny more than what Yhoo's worth..."... and set a final deadline on Sat after that earnings report.

Then Sat came, first with a report than MSFT upped her offer to some $33/share in cash, and deal was done...then a few hours later, the deal was said to have broken down and MSFT decided to walk away...i guess Balmer had his lap dance and jerked off.

On Tues, this week, Yang, probably fearing a slew of class suit actions by existing shareholders, publicly announced that they were really quite ready to negotiate and that it was Balmer who simply walked away...

so, now, no one knows WTF is happening, except that there's just HOPE, someone will start this talk again and perhaps even Goog maybe interested (forget about regulatory hurdles for now)...

there we are.... this is the complete 2.5 months story summarised...and you can only get it at

HUATOPEDIA
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Re: Yahoo

Postby winston » Wed May 14, 2008 6:39 pm

Yahoo May Rise on Reports That Icahn Is Considering Board Fight

By Crayton Harrison

May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Yahoo! Inc., the Internet company that spurned a $47.5 billion bid from Microsoft Corp., may rise today on the Nasdaq on reports that billionaire investor Carl Icahn might try to unseat the board, opening the door to another offer.

Icahn may use a stake of 50 million shares, accumulated this month, to nominate a full or partial slate of board members at Yahoo's annual meeting July 3, CNBC and the Wall Street Journal said yesterday. The investor may decide what to do by today, the newspaper said.

The threat of a challenge from Icahn could persuade Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang to sell to Microsoft, said Sachin Shah, a merger-arbitrage analyst at ICAP Securities in Jersey City, New Jersey. Microsoft walked away from its bid on May 3 after Yang demanded more. Icahn has used board challenges at companies such as Motorola Inc. to influence their strategy.

``This is kind of a best-case scenario,'' said Shah, who recommends buying Yahoo shares. ``If anybody is going to come off the bench and solicit a proxy, you want Carl Icahn to be the guy.''

Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, rose $1.30, or 5.2 percent, to $26.56 yesterday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have declined 7.4 percent since May 2, the day before Microsoft dropped its bid. Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker, dropped 10 cents to $29.78.

Higher Bid?

Yahoo, owner of the second most popular Internet search engine, may still be able to get Microsoft to bid more than its last offer, which amounted to $33 a share, Shah said.

Icahn didn't respond to phone messages from Bloomberg News. Yahoo spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler declined to comment. Frank Shaw, a spokesman for Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, said he had no knowledge of Icahn's interest in mounting a proxy fight and reiterated that Microsoft has backed away from Yahoo since dropping its bid.

Investment firm Firebrand Partners LLC, founded by Scott Galloway, also is considering a plan to nominate Yahoo board members, the Wall Street Journal said. The firm isn't coordinating with Icahn, the newspaper said, citing a person familiar with the matter. Galloway declined Bloomberg News' request for comment.

Yahoo estimates it has enough investor support to hold off a proxy fight, the Journal said, citing a person close to the company. The deadline for nominating directors is tomorrow.

Microsoft assembled its own slate of directors when planning a hostile bid for Yahoo. Microsoft's law firm sent letters to the 10 potential board members and some alternates last week releasing them from their contracts, a person familiar with the matter said.

At Motorola, Icahn spurred a decision to split off the company's mobile-phone business. He's also backing a plan by video-store chain Blockbuster Inc. to purchase electronics retailer Circuit City Stores Inc., saying last week that he would purchase the company if Blockbuster can't get financing.

He has also nominated three board members in a challenge to drugmaker Biogen Idec Inc. after criticizing the company's sales process.
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Re: Yahoo YHOO

Postby kennynah » Wed May 14, 2008 6:43 pm

this fella icahn...talk talk talk...takes forever to get things done... though as reported he did just bot up 50mil yhoo shares last week... he wants to to push yhoo board to accept msft's re-offer at >$31...this offer expired 2 sats ago...

this fella is just a corp raider..though a biliionaire

by the way, assuming he paid $25/share....he spent a sum of usd1.25 bil...

and just on 1 night...(13may) when yhoo shares rose some 5%...he made a cool 625mil... knn...we can work for several life times and wont smell that kinda money....some d**ks are just rich :shock:
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Re: Yahoo YHOO

Postby kennynah » Thu May 15, 2008 2:58 am

14 May 2008 18:47 GMT
Yahoo shares gain on reports Icahn may launch proxy war

SAN FRANCISCO (Thomson Financial) - Shares of Yahoo Inc. rose higher Wednesday on reports that billionaire investor Carl Icahn has stockpiled 3.6% of the Internet company's shares in the last week and may be considering a proxy fight.

The chances are "high" that Icahn will launch a proxy contest to oust some or all of Yahoo's 10-member board in the next 48 hours, according to Jefferies & Co.

Icahn must nominate a slate of replacement directors by Thursday to force a vote at the Yahoo shareholders meeting in July.

The specter of an activist shareholder hovering over Yahoo may compel the company to make a last-minute bid to stay independent and avoid an acquisition by Microsoft Corp., the firm said in a note to clients.

Yahoo's moves could include a possible search advertising outsourcing deal with Google Inc., the re-start of its negotiations for a combination of AOL and or MySpace, or an increase to second quarter and fiscal 2008 guidance, Jefferies said.

"[A] go-it-alone strategy puts huge pressure on [Yahoo's] management to nail its three-year guidance, which in effect locked [management] into delivering aggressive growth and margin projections for the next three years, a daunting task for any management team," Jefferies said.

In a note to clients, Stifel Nicolaus & Co. also echoed the view that the pressure of a possible proxy battle might force Yahoo to pursue the much-anticipated search deal with Google, which is a dealbreaker for Microsoft.

Stifel encouraged shareholders to consider swapping out of Yahoo shares and into shares of Google, with a buy rating. The firm maintained Yahoo's hold rating.

"In our view, a successful proxy battle is a bit like a scorched earth policy: you may win the battle but what you ultimately win will be so damaged that it wasn't worth fighting for," Stifel said. "We believe this is why Microsoft didn't pursue a proxy battle, and we don't think the software giant's view will change with Carl Icahn doing the dirty work."

Shares of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo were up 66 cents, or about 2.5%, at $27.24.

Google's stock was up $6.16, or more than 1%, at $588.60, while Microsoft shares were up 42 cents, or 1.4%, at $30.20.
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Re: Yahoo YHOO

Postby kennynah » Thu May 15, 2008 6:19 pm

update on the possible proxy fight for yhoo

deadline is today (15may08) to line up a list of 10 directors as replacement...icahn appears to have done that...

15 May 2008 09:43 GMT
Report: Investor to lead fight against Yahoo board

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn reportedly has decided to lead a mutiny against Yahoo Inc.'s board in an attempt to pressure the directors into reviving negotiations to sell Yahoo to Microsoft Corp.

To turn up the heat on Yahoo's board, Icahn has lined up a slate of 10 directors to nominate as replacements, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Wednesday, citing an unnamed person close to the matter.

Icahn hadn't returned phone messages from The Associated Press as of late Wednesday. His intentions should become clear soon, however, because Yahoo has set a Thursday deadline for submitting candidates to oppose its board at the company's July 3 annual meeting.

A representative of Sunnyvale-based Yahoo declined to comment.

Yahoo's board is on the hot seat for rejecting Microsoft's initial bid of $44.6 billion, or $31 per share, and taking measures that finally drove away the software maker.

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer orally offered to raise the offer to $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, earlier this month. He withdrew the bid May 3 after Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, acting on behalf of the board, held out for $37 per share -- a price that Yahoo's stock hasn't reached in more than two years.

Yahoo shares rose 58 cents to close at $27.14 Wednesday on hopes that Icahn would spearhead a stockholder revolt. They gained another 51 cents in after-hours trading.

The Yahoo board's demands for $37 per share infuriated many of the company's shareholders, who are skeptical about Yang's pledge to dramatically accelerate the Internet icon's revenue growth during the next two years after being stuck in financial funk since 2005.

Hoping to capitalize on the discontent, Icahn reportedly has spent more than $1 billion to acquire about 50 million Yahoo shares -- a stake of about 3.6 percent.

Now Icahn appears ready to spend millions of dollars waging a campaign to oust the Yahoo directors, including Yang, who started the company with David Filo 14 years ago.

The Journal reported Icahn's list of alternate directors includes at least one former CEO, Frank Biondi, who used to run Viacom Inc. Biondi has worked with Icahn in previous battles -- known as proxy contests -- to unseat corporate boards.

It's usually difficult for a dissident shareholder to prevail in proxy contests.

But the odds actually might be stacked against Yahoo's board in this confrontation because there is so much shareholder anger and Icahn has an established track record for effecting change in corporate America, said Espen Eckbo, founding director of the Center for Corporate Governance at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business.

The list of troubled companies that Icahn has recently pressured into shake-ups includes Blockbuster Inc., Motorola Inc. and Mylan Laboratories Inc. He also pushed software maker BEA Systems Inc. into agreeing to an $8.5 billion sale to its rival Oracle Corp. this year after Oracle dropped a bid of $6.7 billion.

"I think there is a better than normal change of (Icahn) winning because it's such a clear-cut case of what went wrong here," Eckbo said.

What's not clear is whether Microsoft is even interested in making another bid after spending more than three months chasing Yahoo to no avail.

A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment Wednesday.

Many analysts still believe Microsoft eventually will come back to the negotiating table because a Yahoo takeover represents the software maker's best chance of achieving its goal to challenge Google Inc.'s dominance of the Internet search and advertising market.

But Ballmer and other Microsoft executives have publicly indicated that the company has decided to explore other ways to bolster its unprofitable Internet operations.

If Yang and the rest of the Yahoo board decide to resist Icahn's renewed talks with Microsoft, the company could try to win over shareholders by turning over some of its prime advertising space to Google. That could appease shareholders because Google's technology proved to be far more profitable than Yahoo's ad system in a two-week trial completed last week.

Yahoo's flirtation with Google is one of the main reasons that Microsoft abandoned its bid, according to Ballmer.

But an alliance between Yahoo and Google would face antitrust obstacles because the two companies control more than 80 percent of the U.S. search advertising market.
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Re: Yahoo YHOO

Postby kennynah » Fri May 16, 2008 4:46 am

just a little bit of new actions...of the same plan...

15 May 2008 20:41 GMT
Icahn vows to oust Yahoo directors in shareholder revolt

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is setting out to oust Yahoo Inc.'s board of directors for "irresponsible" and "unconscionable" actions that led Microsoft Corp. to withdraw a $47.5 billion offer to buy the slumping Internet pioneer.

In a letter sent Thursday to Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock, Icahn wrote that outraged Yahoo shareholders had urged him to lead a campaign to replace Yahoo's 10 directors at the company's July 3 annual meeting in hopes of bringing Microsoft back to the bargaining table.

"I believe that a combination between Microsoft and Yahoo is by far the most sensible path for both companies," Icahn wrote.

To give him leverage in the looming battle, Icahn revealed that he has spent at least $1.3 billion snapping up about 59 million Yahoo shares to give him a roughly 4 percent stake in the Sunnyvale-based company. He plans to seek approval from the Federal Trade Commission to acquire up to $2.5 billion in Yahoo stock.

A Yahoo representative said the company would respond to Icahn's attack "soon."

Icahn told Yahoo's board it could quickly quell the shareholder mutiny by renewing negotiations with Microsoft.

Besides himself, Icahn's alternate board of directors includes Internet entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who got rich by selling Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $8.1 billion in stock in 1999. Cuban used part of his Yahoo windfall to buy the Dallas Mavericks, a National Basketball Association franchise that he still owns.

Icahn's other notable nominees include: venture capitalist Adam Dell, whose brother, Michael, founded Dell Inc.; and Frank Biondi Jr., the former chief executive of Viacom Inc.

The revolt threatens to jettison Jerry Yang from the company that he started with David Filo 14 years ago. Yang is one of Yahoo's directors and has been trying to engineer a turnaround since taking the job of CEO 11 months ago.

Together, Yang and Filo -- both billionaires -- still own 134 million Yahoo shares, or nearly 10 percent of the company.

Yang and the rest of Yahoo's board are on the hot seat for rejecting Microsoft's initial bid of $44.6 billion, or $31 per share, and taking measures that finally drove away the software maker.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer orally offered to raise the offer to $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, earlier this month. He withdrew the bid May 3 after Yang and Filo, acting on behalf of the Yahoo board, held out for $37 per share -- a price that Yahoo's stock hasn't reached in more than two years.

Yang has argued Yahoo eventually will be worth more than $50 billion if it can expand its share of a rapidly growing Internet advertising market that so far has been dominated by rival Google Inc. In a forecast released while Yahoo tried to thwart the Microsoft bid, management predicted net revenue growth of at least 25 percent in 20009 and 2010 -- well above its recent pace of 12 percent.

"It is irresponsible to hide behind management's more than overly optimistic financial forecasts," Icahn wrote. "It is unconscionable that you have not allowed your shareholders to choose to accept an offer that represented a 72 percent premium over Yahoo's closing price of $19.18 on the day before the initial Microsoft offer."

Yahoo shares rose 61 cents to $27.75 Thursday.

While Icahn made it clear his challenge is aimed at selling Yahoo to Microsoft, there are no guarantees the software maker is still interested in buying its rival.

A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment on Icahn's letter, saying the Redmond, Wash.-based company has "moved on."

That sentiment echoes what Ballmer and Microsoft executives have been saying publicly as they pledged to find other ways to bolster the company's unprofitable Internet operations and mount a more serious challenge to Google.

But many analysts believe Microsoft is just posturing as part of a plan to depress Yahoo's stock so it will be easier to negotiate a friendly deal within a few months. Others believe the window of opportunity is closing for a Microsoft-Yahoo deal, given that it might be more difficult to win U.S. antitrust approval for the combination after a new president ushers in a new administration in January.

Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal is in the camp that believes Microsoft will eventually buy Yahoo for $33 or $34 per share. The "body language from Yahoo and Microsoft do not suggest that both companies have really moved on," Aggarwal wrote in a Thursday research note.

If the two companies really abandoned hope for a deal, Aggarwal reasons they would have already announced other moves indicating they were going in a new direction.

For instance, Yahoo has been discussing a possible advertising partnership with Google for weeks without agreeing to a deal. And if Microsoft weren't still interested in Yahoo, Aggarwal believes the company would have already announced another acquisition or "radical changes" in its strategy for building a more compelling Internet search engine.

In his letter, Icahn urged Yahoo's board not to enter into any transactions, such as a Google ad partnership, that might ruin the chances of a sale to Microsoft. Ballmer cited Yahoo's flirtation with Google as one of the reasons for Microsoft's bid.

Icahn has a long history of challenging corporate boards and his efforts often result in shake-ups. Most recently, he has forced major changes at Blockbuster Inc. and Motorola Inc. He also played a pivotal role in the recent $8.5 billion sale of business software maker BEA Systems Inc. to rival Oracle Corp., which dropped an earlier bid of $6.7 billion.
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Re: Yahoo YHOO

Postby kennynah » Mon May 19, 2008 6:41 pm

discussion between msft and yhoo could have been revived on sunday 18may08
**********

19 May 2008 10:34 GMT
Microsoft: New talks for alternative Yahoo deal

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Microsoft Corp. is once again trying to team up with Yahoo Inc. to challenge Internet search and advertising leader Google Inc., although at this point the renewed talks haven't escalated to another attempt to take over Yahoo.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker disclosed the revived discussions Sunday without providing any specifics about the nature of the deal being explored except to say it involved bolstering the companies' position in the online search and advertising markets.

"There of course can be no assurance that any transaction will result from these discussions," the statement said.

In a statement late Sunday, Yahoo said its board is exploring several "value maximizing" alternatives and "remain open to pursuing any transaction which is in the best interest of our stockholders."

Microsoft emphasized that it hasn't resurrected a $47.5 billion takeover bid that its chief executive, Steve Ballmer, withdrew May 3 after Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang -- acting on behalf of Yahoo's board -- demanded an additional $5.5 billion.

But Microsoft left open the possibility that it might dangle another buyout offer of Yahoo, depending on how the discussions progress between the two companies and their respective shareholders.

Yahoo is facing intense pressure from its shareholders to reopen sales negotiations, with activist investor Carl Icahn threatening to replace the Sunnyvale-based company's entire board unless a deal can be working out before Yahoo's July 3 annual meeting.

Although Microsoft hasn't been in touch with Icahn yet, the software maker reached out to Yahoo after the billionaire revealed his plans Thursday to lead a shareholder mutiny, according to two people familiar with the current status of the discussions. These people requested anonymity because they aren't authorized to speak on behalf of the companies.

Microsoft's latest talks with Yahoo could be aimed at providing an alternative to a search advertising partnership that Yahoo has been exploring with Google as part of its attempts to remain independent.

Last month, Yahoo completed a two-week test that allowed Google to use its superior technology to sell ads alongside a sliver of Yahoo's search results. Since then, the two rivals have been mulling a long-term alliance that would likely raise antitrust concerns because the two companies combined control more than 80 percent of the U.S. search advertising market.

While Google's help probably would provide Yahoo with a short-term lift, it might hurt Yahoo in the long run by making Google even stronger, according to some analysts.

Ballmer already has said Microsoft will be less interested in Yahoo if it cedes control of search advertising to Google. Icahn has urged Yahoo's board not to enter into any deals, such as a Google partnership, that might diminish the company's value to Microsoft.

Nevertheless, some analysts believe a formal partnership between Google and Yahoo could happen any day.

The mere acknowledgment that Microsoft and Yahoo are at least talking again will likely cause more investors to conclude it's only a matter of time before the two sides work out an amicable deal.

The theory that Microsoft would eventually renew its takeover attempt helped cushion the blow to Yahoo's stock since Ballmer withdrew an oral offer of $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, after Yang held out for $53 billion, or $37 per share.

Yahoo shares ended last week at $27.66, down by just $1, or 3 percent, since Ballmer walked away from the discussions. They were trading at $19.18 when Microsoft announced its initial bid of $31 per share Feb. 1.

Despite the intensifying pressure from Icahn and some of Yahoo's major shareholders, Yang and Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock reiterated last week that they won't sell the company for less than the board believes it's worth.

While Yahoo's board has set a $37-per-share target, many analysts believe Microsoft could probably seal a deal by offering $34 or $35 per share.

Most analysts believe Microsoft needs to make a dramatic move, such as buying Yahoo, to slow Google's rapid rise as the Internet reshapes the way people interact with computers. The shift is weakening Microsoft's core franchise of providing software tethered to the individual hard drives of personal computers.

"We continue to maintain our view that there is no other company that needs Yahoo as much as Microsoft and Microsoft does not have compelling plan-B without Yahoo," Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal wrote in a research note last week.

Although it still ranks as technology's richest company, Microsoft's Internet expansion efforts have been largely ineffectual. Since the end of the company's fiscal 2005, Microsoft's online operations have lost $1.5 billion.

"The fact is that we are not where we want to be in this business yet and we've been in this position longer than we'd all like," Kevin Johnson, the head of Microsoft's online division, wrote in a Sunday e-mail to employees. Even if Microsoft can't work out a deal with Yahoo, Johnson assured "we will be accelerating elements of our core strategy, and breaking ground in new areas."

Microsoft's latest advances in Internet advertising and search will be outlined in a conference this week, Johnson said.

Once the Internet's kingpin, Yahoo was overtaken by the more nimble and innovative Google several years ago. With Yahoo's profits shrinking and revenue growth decelerating, Yahoo lost about half its market value -- more than $25 billion -- in the two-year period leading up to Microsoft's initial bid.

Yang, a Yahoo founder who became CEO 11 months ago, maintains the company is on the cusp of a turnaround that will boost net revenue by at least 25 percent in 2009 and 2010. That would be a dramatic improvement from the company's recent net revenue gains of about 12 percent.

Microsoft first broached the possibility of forming a business alliance with Yahoo in late 2006, according to a letter that Ballmer released in February. In early 2007, Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo for about $40 per share, according to a person familiar with those discussions. The person didn't want to be identified because that bid was never publicly disclosed.
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Microsoft/Yahoo

Postby millionairemind » Tue May 20, 2008 7:47 pm

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/ ... 1620080520

Microsoft proposes to buy Yahoo search: source

Tue May 20, 2008 2:35am EDT Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page| Recommend (0) [-] Text [+]
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Microsoft after Yahoo search
BOSTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp has proposed to buy Yahoo Inc's search business and take a minority stake in the Web pioneer, stopping short of a full-out merger, a person familiar with the discussions said on Monday.

As part of the deal Yahoo would put its Asian assets, including significant minority stakes in Yahoo Japan and China's Alibaba Group, up for sale, while Microsoft would buy a chunk of what remains of the company, the source said.

The talks were revealed by the two companies on Sunday, but they declined to reveal the terms of the discussions. Earlier this month, Microsoft walked away from a proposal to acquire Yahoo for $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, after Yahoo rebuffed the offer, saying it would only settle for $37 a share.

The new deal, if completed, would forge an alliance between the two companies that would represent an alternative means of competing with rival Google Inc, whose ubiquitous search engine has made it an online advertising powerhouse.

The proposal represents an outline of Microsoft's current thinking and it does not yet put a value on Yahoo's search business, said the source, who was not authorized to speak on the record because the discussions are confidential.

Microsoft and Yahoo representatives declined to comment.

Shares of Yahoo fell as much as 0.87 percent on Monday, before closing up 2 cents at $27.68 on Nasdaq. Microsoft dropped 1.8 percent to $29.46.

Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal estimates Yahoo's search advertising business is worth about $21 billion, while putting the value of its international assets at $9.25 billion, according to a research note he published on Monday
"Microsoft is the most interested in Yahoo Search," said Aggarwal, who added that Microsoft may buy parts of Yahoo for a premium or buy all of Yahoo and then spin off certain assets.

Shares in both Yahoo Japan and Alibaba.com Ltd dropped 4 percent on the new proposal, thanks to the greater uncertainty now hanging over the two companies.

"We had always looked at Yahoo Inc teaming up with Microsoft as a positive for Yahoo Japan," said Macquarie Securities analyst Nathan Ramler.

"The fact that Yahoo Japan is potentially not included is a concern," he said, adding that the Japanese company could have benefited from Microsoft's expertise in software, personal computers and its deep pockets.

CHASING GOOGLE

Microsoft said on Sunday that it was talking with Yahoo about an alternative transaction that did not involve a full buyout after withdrawing its sweetened $47.5 billion bid for the company on May 3.

Yahoo is a distant second to Google Inc in Web search in the United States, and Microsoft is third.

Combined, Yahoo and Microsoft would have around a 30 percent U.S. share, compared with Google's roughly 60 percent, according to figures from research firm comScore. Google's lead is even larger on a global basis, according to comScore.

The proposal from Microsoft would likely complicate ongoing discussions between Yahoo and Google. The two companies are still talking about a possible search advertising partnership, people familiar with those discussions have told Reuters.
Talks between Yahoo and Microsoft resumed after Microsoft insisted for two weeks that it had moved on from its pursuit of Yahoo, prompting shareholders of the Web company to criticize its board for mishandling negotiations.

Financier Carl Icahn launched a proxy fight last week to force Yahoo to reopen talks with Microsoft. Icahn, who owns nearly 10 million Yahoo shares as well as options to acquire another 49 million shares, formally filed on Monday the preliminary proxy to nominate 10 directors to Yahoo's board.

A person familiar with Icahn's thinking said on Sunday that an alternative deal for Yahoo, rather than a full acquisition, would prompt the investor to push Yahoo to do a deal with Google. Icahn did not comment on the talks between Microsoft and Yahoo in his filing on Monday.

For its part, Alibaba Group, the private holding company whose assets include Alibaba.com, has been lining up investors to help it buy back the Yahoo stake, sources told Reuters earlier.

Yahoo's core franchise stems from the roughly 500 million Web users who pass through its network of Internet media properties each month. Major attractions include Yahoo Mail, news, sports, entertainment and its Flickr.com photo site.

It generates most of its revenue through sales of display advertising to those visitors, as well as making an increasing push to sell ads on non-Yahoo sites. As the No. 2 provider of Web search services, Yahoo also sells ads alongside search results and on a variety of affiliated sites.

(Additional reporting by Eric Auchard in New York, Daisuke Wakabayashi in Los Angeles and Edwina Gibbs in Tokyo; editing by Carol Bishopric, Jeffrey Benkoe, Richard Chang)




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Re: Yahoo YHOO

Postby kennynah » Fri May 23, 2008 6:00 pm

and the saga drags on and on and on....

23 May 2008 09:33 GMT
Yahoo postpones annual meeting, battle with Icahn

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Yahoo Inc. on Thursday postponed a looming showdown for control of its board, giving itself more time to prepare a defense -- or negotiate a sale to Microsoft Corp. that would cause activist investor Carl Icahn to call off the mutiny.

The showdown pitting the slumping Internet pioneer's board against Icahn and other unhappy shareholders was supposed to come to a head at the Sunnyvale-based company's July 3 annual meeting.

But Yahoo is dragging out the drama by pushing the meeting back to an undetermined date in late July, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This is the second time Yahoo has postponed its annual meeting, usually held in May or June. The previous delay, announced in March, gave Yahoo more time to explore alternatives to Microsoft's unsolicited takeover bid, which was withdrawn this month in a pricing disagreement.

Spurred by shareholders upset with Yahoo's board's handling of Microsoft's last offer of $47.5 billion, Icahn has nominated a slate of candidates to replace the current directors -- a process known as a proxy contest.

Two other unidentified shareholders intend to nominate themselves to become Yahoo directors, the company disclosed Thursday. A third shareholder plans to submit another opposing sale of directors, according to Yahoo. The company said it believes these three shareholders haven't met the rules for nominating alternate candidates, meaning they could be disqualified at the annual meeting.

Yahoo already has lost one director with the resignation of Arthur Kozel, whose departure was disclosed Thursday in a separate SEC filing.

Kozel, a former Cisco Systems Inc. executive who was on Yahoo's board for eight years, had been planning to step down since February so he could move his family to Europe, the SEC filing said. Yahoo doesn't plan to replace Kozel, leaving its board with nine members.

The postponement of Yahoo's annual meeting "raises a lot of interesting questions," said Claudia Allen, a Chicago lawyer specializing in corporate governance issues.

"It could be that they are exploring some other potential transactions, with the most likely one being some sort of deal with Microsoft that satisfies Mr. Icahn," Allen said.

In its SEC filing, Yahoo said it needs more time to prepare and obtain SEC approval for all the material it plans to file in the upcoming proxy battle.

Icahn didn't respond to a request for comment about Yahoo's postponement.

Microsoft and Yahoo have acknowledged they have renewed talks about a possible transaction with Yahoo since Icahn mounted his challenge, although both companies say the discussions so far haven't included another attempt by Microsoft to buy Yahoo in it entirety.

The two sides had previously parted ways after they couldn't agree on a sale price, prompting Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to withdraw an offer to buy Yahoo for $47.5 billion, or $33 per share. Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang -- speaking on behalf of the board -- wanted $37 per share, or about $52 billion.

Microsoft has reportedly proposed buying Yahoo's search technology -- an idea that has been panned by many analysts as impractical. The Redmond, Wash.-based software hasn't ruled out another attempt to buy Yahoo's entire business in a marriage that Icahn is trying to make happen.

Yahoo also has been exploring a possible partnership that would allow Internet search leader Google Inc. to sell some of the ads that appear alongside the results users see when they run searches on Yahoo's Web site. A two-week trial completed last month indicated Google's technology would help to boost Yahoo's profits and perhaps its stock price.

But any alliance between Yahoo and Google would face antitrust obstacles because the two companies combined control more than 80 percent of the U.S. search market.

If Microsoft were to negotiate a similar partnership with Yahoo, instead of trying to buy its rival outright, it might not face the same antitrust problems because Google would still control more than half the market.
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