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Yahoo rejects joint proposal from Microsoft, Icahn
Yahoo! Inc., owner of the second-most popular search engine, rejected a restructuring proposal by Microsoft Corp. and billionaire investor Carl Icahn that would have included the sale of Yahoo's search business to Microsoft.
Yahoo's advertising agreement with Google Inc. offers ``superior financial value'' to the proposal from Microsoft and Icahn, the Sunnyvale, California-based company said in a Business Wire statement today.
Icahn has criticized Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang for failing to close a deal with Microsoft, the world's biggest software maker. Microsoft, which on May 3 withdrew an offer to buy Yahoo, said on July 7 it may renew talks for a deal if Icahn, who controls about 69 million Yahoo shares, succeeds in ousting Yang and his board.
``Carl Icahn and Microsoft presented us with a `take it or leave it' proposal,'' Chairman Roy Bostock said in the statement. ``It is ludicrous to think that our board could accept such a proposal. We will not be bludgeoned into a transaction that is not in the best interests of our stockholders.''
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Full story at link by Kyung Bok Cho// Bloomberg.com Yahoo! Inc., owner of the second-most popular search engine, rejected a restructuring proposal by Microsoft Corp. and billionaire inve... more -
Investor Carl Icahn moves to oust Yahoo directors
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 24 cents to $27.39 in midday trading Thursday. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is setting out to oust Yahoo Inc.'s board of directors for "irresponsible" and "un... more -
Carl Icahn drinks Microsoft's milkshake
Yahoo’s shares jumped to their highest level since Microsoft abandoned its takeover offer as expectations rose that the internet company was about to come under renewed pressure to consider a deal.
Carl Icahn, the activist investor, is considering proposing nominees to the company’s board as a way to force Yahoo’s hand, according to one investor who has worked as an ally with him on similar situations.
This investor, and other media reports, also claimed that Mr Icahn had amassed a stake of as much as 4 per cent of Yahoo’s shares in preparation for a fight.
Mr Icahn has been sounding out other potential allies among hedge fund managers for more than a week, according to the investor.
Although Mr Icahn has yet to show his hand and has not formally approached the company, Yahoo itself now believes the activist investor is likely to show his hand before tomorrow’s deadline, according to a person close to the situation.
Mr Icahn is unlikely to try to take full control of the Yahoo board but would nominate directors so he could push for leadership change. Yahoo’s shares jumped to their highest level since Microsoft abandoned its takeover offer as expectations rose that the internet compa... more -
Circuit City is throwing in the towel
The electronics chain puts out the "For Sale" sign, hiring Goldman Sachs to assist on a deal, most likely with Blockbuster
Circuit City is finally throwing in the towel. Confronted with weak sales, impatient shareholders, and a U.S. consumer pummeled by recession, the electronics chain capitulated on May 9 and retained Goldman Sachs to help negotiate a deal. The same day, Circuit City Stores agreed to allow three board nominees from activist shareholder Mark Wattles to stand for elections.
The moves almost certainly presage a sale of the chain, likely to Blockbuster, where Carl Icahn has stepped up and agreed to finance a Circuit City acquisition. The billionaire—Blockbuster's largest shareholder—has bought into a "game-changing" scheme announced last month in which the troubled electronics retailer would be combined with the troubled movie retailer to create a new national chain selling consumer hardware and software. The electronics chain puts out the "For Sale" sign, hiring Goldman Sachs to assist on a deal, most likely with Blockbuster ... more
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Carl Icahn
