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Microsoft to Engineer Proxy Fight for Yahoo's Board

Posted Feb 19, 08 12:49 PM CST in Technology,  Business 

(Newser) – Rather than raise its $44.6 billion hostile takeover bid, Microsoft will start a proxy fight at Yahoo, with an eye to nominating a slate of directors for the board by mid-March. The hardball tactic will cost less than upping the bid—$20 million or $30 million will pay a proxy solicitor and buy shareholder mailers—but it comes with real downsides, the New York Times reports.

Microsoft would have preferred a friendly takeover, because bitterness could provoke Yahoo employees to quit en masse. But the software giant has made it clear it will stop at nothing—and the Yahoo board elects all of its directors at once, making it a ripe target. Microsoft’s stock has sunk 12.8% since the offer was revealed 2 weeks ago.

Source New York Times

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This combination of two file photos shows Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, left, and Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang. Yahoo Inc. on Monday, Feb. 11, 2008 spurned Microsoft Corp.'s $44.6 billion takeover bid as inadequate,...   (Associated Press)
The Yahoo logo is shown on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008 in New York. Yahoo Inc. hopes media conglomerate News Corp. can rescue it from a Microsoft Corp. takeover _ or at least prove the slumping Internet...   (Associated Press)
Chinese subway riders walk past a Yahoo advertisement at a metro station in Beijing, in this March 12, 2006 file photo. Yahoo Inc.'s rejection of Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited takeover bid left investors...   (Associated Press)
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates smiles during his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 6, 2008. Google Inc. says Microsoft Corp. could use its proposed $42 billion acquisition...   (Associated Press)
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