|
Brushing aside the threat of a disruptive takeover battle that could batter its shaky stock, Internet pioneer Yahoo Inc. on Monday reiterated its refusal to sell to Microsoft Corp. for less than $45 billion. Yahoo's defiance, spelled out in a letter to Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, marked the latest twist in a tug-of-war pitting two high-tech icons trying to mount a more formidable challenge to online search and advertising leader Google Inc. The increasingly tense struggle now appears to have reached a turning point after more than two months of mostly behind-the-scenes maneuvering. Analysts believe the two rivals will either broker a friendly transaction before the end of the month or wrestle for the allegiance of Yahoo's shareholders in a prickly showdown that could drag into the summer. Most people following the saga still seem to think Microsoft - the world's richest tech company - holds the upper hand over Yahoo, which has been mired in a two-year slump and unable so far to find an alternative deal that would trump Microsoft's original offer of $44.6 billion, or $31 per share. ''They both have some leverage, but the greatest leverage still appears to rest with Microsoft,'' said Morton Pierce, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who advises on corporate mergers and acquisitions. Ballmer turned up the heat up on Yahoo over the weekend by setting an April 26 deadline for the Sunnyvale-based company to accept Microsoft's offer. If Yahoo's board doesn't relent, Ballmer threatened to lower Microsoft bid's and ask Yahoo's shareholders to replace the 10 directors resisting a takeover in a ''proxy'' contest. Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock and Chief Executive Jerry Yang, also a member of the company's board, fired back Monday in a letter that criticized Ballmer for not doing more to advance the negotiations. Ballmer attended at least two of the informal meetings held between Microsoft and Yahoo, according to Bostock and Yang. The letter didn't rule out further discussions as long as Ballmer is prepared to sweeten the unsolicited offer, which Yahoo first demanded in early February after its board unanimously concluded the bid wasn't high enough. ''We are steadfast in our commitment to choosing a path that maximizes stockholder value and we will not allow you or anyone else to acquire the company for anything less than its full value,'' Bostock and Yang told Ballmer. Microsoft had no immediate response to the Yahoo letter. |
Mixx
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
delicious
reddit
MySpace
StumbleUpon
LinkedIn
Buying Metro tickets through NFC could be a reality by 2016
A new report from Juniper Research has found that 1 in 8 (13 percent) of North American and Western European ...
Citrix CloudStack 3 to offer Amazon-style clouds to customers
Protests erupt across Europe against web piracy treaty
Google is getting new test labs and 'Experience Center' at Googleplex
U.S government agency replaces BlackBerry with iPhone
SwaggSec hacks Foxconn, uses unpatched IE
Intex launches new 3D dual SIM touch phone, the Avatar
Leaked Images, Availability, Pricing,
Specs, Pre-order
5 free operating systems that aren't Linux
The war of operating systems started decades ago, and the first mainstream
It's a great time to be a family
Microsoft has unveiled its first ever global, multi-product advertising...
By Advertorial
In a sea of operating systems with Windows 7, the upcoming Windows 8 and...
Samsung launches three new dual-SIM smartphones, pricing revealed
Aditya Narayan
Tue Feb 14, 19:34:40
James Bond 007: Blood Stone - Shaken and Stirred Not in a Good Way
Amey Barde
Tue Feb 14, 19:28:40
Samsung launches three new dual-SIM smartphones, pricing revealed
Venkateswara Swamy Swarna
Tue Feb 14, 19:28:23
More from Windows
More from this Author
_011517074205_160x90.jpg "Epson Stylus Photo R3000")
Samsung launches three new dual-SIM...
How to - Multi-boot Android OS' on...
After BlackBerry thumb, medics worry about
iPad 3 to be announced on March 7, cites...
The Darkness II - Fear of the Dark
Resistance: Burning Skies dated
About Us | Site Profile | Tech2 Team | IBNLive News | IBNLive Hindi News | Cricket News | Indian Stock Market | Policy | T & C
Copyright © 2011, Tech2.com India - A Network 18 India Venture
