--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Aria Rajasa Masna" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Horeeee!!! Thank God we won't be seeing MS Flickr with Home, Office, Enterprise and Ultimate Membership XD On Feb 10, 2008 10:16 AM, Ines Muljawan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Yahoo board to spurn $44B Microsoft bid<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/microsoft_yahoo> By > MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer*Sat Feb 9, 5:43 PM ET* > Yahoo Inc.'s board will reject Microsoft Corp.'s $44.6 billion takeover > bid after concluding the unsolicited offer undervalues the slumping Internet > pioneer, a person familiar with the situation said Saturday. > The decision could provoke a showdown between two of the world's most > prominent technology companies with Internet search leader Google Inc. > looming in the background. Leery of Microsoft expanding its turf on the > Internet, Google already has offered to help Yahoo avert a takeover and > urged antitrust regulators to take a hard look at the proposed deal. > If the world's largest software maker wants Yahoo badly enough, Microsoft > could try to override Yahoo's board by taking its offer originally valued > at $31 per share directly to the shareholders. Pursuing that risky route > probably will require Microsoft to attempt to oust Yahoo's current 10-member > board. > Alternatively, Microsoft could sweeten its bid. Many analysts believe > Microsoft is prepared to offer as much as $35 per share for Yahoo, which > still boasts one of the Internet's largest audiences and most powerful > advertising vehicles despite a prolonged slump that has hammered its stock. > Yahoo's board reached the decision after exploring a wide variety of > alternatives during the past week, according to the person who spoke to The > Associated Press. The person didn't want to be identified because the > reasons for Yahoo's rebuff won't be officially spelled out until Monday > morning. > Microsoft and Yahoo declined to comment Saturday on the decision, first > reported by The Wall Street Journal on its Web site. > Yahoo's board concluded Microsoft's offer is inadequate even though the > company couldn't find any other potential bidders willing to offer a higher > price. > Without other suitors on the horizon, Yahoo has had little choice but to > turn a cold shoulder toward Microsoft if the board hopes to fulfill its > responsibility to fetch the highest price possible for the company, said > technology investment banker Ken Marlin. > "You would expect Yahoo's board to reject Microsoft at first," Marlin > said. "If they didn't, they would be accused of malfeasance." > But by spurning Microsoft, Yahoo risks further alienating shareholders > already upset about management missteps that have led to five consecutive > quarters of declining profits. > The downturn caused Yahoo's stock price to plummet by more than 40 > percent, erasing about $20 billion in shareholder wealth, in the three > months leading up to Microsoft's bid. > Seizing on an opportunity to expand its clout on the Internet, Microsoft > dangled a takeover offer that was 62 percent above Yahoo's stock price of > just $19.18 when the bid was announced Feb. 1. Yahoo shares ended the past > week at $29.20. > Led by company co-founder and board member Jerry Yang, Yahoo now will be > under intense pressure to lay out a strategy that will prevent its stock > price from collapsing again. What's more, Yang and the rest of the > management team must convince Wall Street that they can boost Yahoo's market > value beyond Microsoft's offer. > Yahoo's shares traded at $31 as recently as November, but have eroded > steadily amid concerns about the slowing economy and frustration with the > slow pace of a turnaround that Yang promised last June when he replaced > former movie studio mogul Terry Semel as Yahoo's chief executive officer. > This isn't the first time that Yahoo has spurned Microsoft. The Redmond, > Wash.-based company offered $40 per share to buy Yahoo a year ago only to be > shooed away by Semel, according to a person familiar with the matter. The > person didn't want to be identified because that bid was never made public. > Yahoo now may want that Microsoft to raise its price to at least $40 per > share again. That would force Microsoft to raise its current offer by about > $12 billion a high price that might alarm its own shareholders. > Microsoft's stock price already has slid 12 percent since the company > announced its Yahoo bid, reflecting concerns about the deal bogging down > amid potential management distractions, sagging employee morale and other > headaches that frequently arise when two big companies are combined. > Although it isn't involved directly in the deal, Google is the main reason > Yahoo is being pursued by Microsoft. > Yahoo has struggled largely because it hasn't been able to target online > ads as effectively as Google. > Microsoft believes Yahoo's brand, engineers, audience and services will > provide the company with valuable weapons in its so far unsuccessful attempt > to narrow Google's huge lead in the lucrative Internet search and > advertising markets. > As it examined ways to thwart Microsoft, Yahoo considered an advertising > partnership with Google an alliance long favored by analysts who believe > it would boost the profits of both companies. It was unclear Saturday if > Yahoo's plans for boosting its stock price include a Google partnership, > which would probably face antitrust issues. > A Microsoft takeover of Yahoo would also be scrutinized by antitrust > regulators in the United States and Europe. The antitrust uncertainties > could be cited as one of the reasons that Yahoo's board decided to spurn > Microsoft. > ___ > > > *Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. > Dance like nobody's watching. > *~ *Satchel Paige* <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satchel_Paige> > > ------------------------------ > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51438/*http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs > > > -- Aria R. Masna <a href="http://rajasa.com";>PT. Rajasa Grafika</a> --- End forwarded message ---
