Yahoo! is this weekend poised to reject a $44.6bn takeover bid from Microsoft, a move which could spark a bitter battle for control of one of the world's leading internet firms.
Yahoo! is this weekend poised to reject a $44.6bn takeover bid from Microsoft
Yang: seeking Google alliance?
Board directors at Yahoo! have decided to reject the unsolicited offer, and are understood to be planning to outline their position to Microsoft in a letter tomorrow.
A formal rejection of Microsoft's bid could spark a renewed overture from Google to establish a formal alliance between itself and Yahoo! and may also encourage other potential counter-bidders.
A source close to the situation said Yahoo! felt Microsoft’s $31-a-share offer “massively undervalues” the internet company.. The source said that Yahoo!'s board believed Microsoft had opted to swoop now to take advantage of recent falls in Yahoo!'s share price, and was unlikely to consider any offer below $40 a share.
Microsoft's bid for Yahoo! represents the most brazen attempt yet by its chief executive, Steve Ballmer, to halt Google's runaway success in the global online search market. Google has a 66 per cent share of the global web search market, compared with Yahoo!'s 13 per cent and Microsoft's 4 per cent.
If Yahoo!, which is led by Jerry Yang, does formally reject the bid, Microsoft could be forced to go hostile and seek to oust the Yahoo! board, or to increase its offer price.
Google has publicly blasted Microsoft's bid for Yahoo!, describing it as a threat to internet users' access to rival instant messaging and e-mail accounts.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
