Yahoo bides for time to prevent shareholder revolt
Yahoo has postponed its annual shareholder meeting from July 3rd to some point later in the month. This is believed to be designed to give Yahoo’s board the chance to prepare itself in the face of mounting rebellion from shareholders.
This is actually the second time Yahoo’s board has delayed the meeting, the first time because it was exploring alternatives to Microsoft’s unsolicited takeover bid. That move didn’t work out so well, and Microsoft has since walked away from the negotiating table as well following the board’s rejection of a $47.5bn offer.
All that leaves is some very grumpy shareholders now being led by investor Carl Icahn, a well known, billionaire investor and business man. He proposes to oust the existing board and replace them with his own representatives.
The board’s delay tactics give them time to prepare their defence against Mr Icahn’s rebellion. There is a chance that fresh negotiations with Microsoft could begin in the meantime, but is believed that attempting both at the same time would be difficult.
Jerry Yang, co-founding chief-exec of Yahoo rejected Microsoft’s bid, claiming that it undervalued the company. Mr Icahn stated this week “Microsoft would be crazy to give up this opportunity that we handed them in this fight. These companies should be merged in one way or another.”
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