Microsoft reportedly taking aim at Yahoo's board
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — Microsoft is crafting a plan to oust Yahoo's board of directors after it rejected the software giant's unsolicited 44.6-billion-dollar takeover offer, according to a US media report Tuesday.
In what could be negotiation through the media or a sign that Microsoft plans to take Yahoo by force, The New York Times on Tuesday quoted people close to the matter as saying Microsoft is taking aim at the Internet giant's board.
If Yahoo does not swiftly enter into takeover talks, Microsoft will try to nominate replacements for Yahoo's board of directors, all 10 of which are up for reelection in at Yahoo's annual meeting in June, the newspaper reported.
Microsoft declined to comment on the report.
Yahoo's rejection last week of the Microsoft buyout offer sets the stage for the US software giant to up the ante or attempt a coup by ousting the Internet firm's board of directors.
Yahoo's board of directors spurned Microsoft's takeover bid on February 11, saying it "significantly undervalues" the firm.
Microsoft called the board's action "unfortunate" and urged Yahoo to reconsider its blockbuster bid to combine the two tech titans and said it offers "superior value" to Yahoo shareholders.
Microsoft calls its bid "full and fair" and says it "reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps" to consummate a deal.
On February 1, Microsoft unveiled what it called "a generous" offer to take over Yahoo, in an effort to merge the world's biggest software company with a major Internet player to take on search and advertising juggernaut Google.
Microsoft proposed 31 dollars per share, a 62 percent premium above Yahoo's closing price a day earlier.
Yahoo's board of directors has indicated it thinks the company is worth at least 40 dollars per share, a price that would compel Microsoft to raise its bid more than 10 billion dollars.
Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang sent a message last week to stockholders, urging them to have faith in the California company's leaders.
Google has condemned Microsoft's effort as an attack on "the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation."
Analysts say the goal of the takeover is to better compete with Google, whose dominance of Internet advertising, backed by its powerful search engine technology, has come at the expense of Microsoft and Yahoo.
