Microsoft Now Seeks Yahoo Investment
The ongoing saga that might result in an online advertising titan offers no more clarity than it did a month ago.
May 19, 2008
Microsoft and Yahoo continued to eye one another over the weekend, and issued separate statements amounting to a general and unspecified interest in working with one another, and possibly M&A.
For Yahoo’s part, the company that was first besieged by an unsolicited offer that it rebuffed, and now finds itself besieged by a proxy fight with investor Carl Icahn, said it has “confirmed with Microsoft that it is not interested in pursuing an acquisition of all of Yahoo at this time.” The statement, issued Sunday, detailed that Yahoo considers a number of strategic alternatives and will weigh any forthcoming Microsoft proposal.
Microsoft, for its part, said Sunday it has “raised with Yahoo an alternative [to its prior rejected all-out M&A] that would involve a transaction with Yahoo but not an acquisition of all” of the company.
The potential discussion of a divestiture to Microsoft could be attributable to Icahn’s investment in Yahoo after talks with Microsoft about a deal failed, and Icahn’s immediate recommendation for a new slate of directors, an apparent push by the activist investor to garner a deal. This is not the first time as of late Icahn has succeeded in swaying large, listed boards — his pledge to help Circuit City find a suitor should a Blockbuster buyout not pan out resulted in the technology retailer opening its books to the DVD rental service.
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