Internet portal Yahoo! puffed its chest out today and insisted it would not yield to Microsoft’s $42 billion offer, despite the fact that no white knight seems to be around to save it from a takeover.
In a letter addressed to Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, the Yahoo! board insisted that the current offer–which is now valued at $42.2 billion–did not reflect the best interests of shareholders.
The letter was a response to Ballmer’s own bout of gauntlet-throwing on Saturday, when he gave Yahoo! three weeks to accept Microsoft’s offer or face a hostile takeover.
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Microsoft Corp. sent a letter to the Yahoo Board of Directors Saturday setting a three-week deadline for moving forward on its more than $40 billion buyout offer.
The letter signed by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Microsoft will take its case directly to Yahoo shareholders and work to elect a new slate of directors, if the board doesn’t respond by the deadline by April 26. The bid to buy Yahoo was made in January and announced Feb. 1.
At the time, Microsoft offered $44.6 billion, or 62 percent above Yahoo’s market value. The deal is currently valued at about $41 billion, based on Friday’s closing share prices. Yahoo’s board formally rejected Microsoft Corp.’s bid, saying it undervalues the company.
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If you’ve been reading about the anti-competitive implications of Google’s DoubleClick acquisition, you may be privy to the handy work of public relations firm Burson-Marsteller.
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft has quietly hired the PR firm to wage a campaign against Google in an effort to convince regulators, advertisers and internet companies that the $3.1 billion deal will put too much power in the hands of Google.
None of the written pitches reviewed by the WSJ disclosed the PR firm’s relationship with Microsoft. Josh Gottheimer, an executive vice president at Burson, said the agency was hired by Microsoft to create i-comp.org, a group dedicated to discussing issues of online privacy and competition. Microsoft confirmed that it is a founding member of i-comp.org.
Read the full article on iMedia Connection.
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