Gawker: valleywag, corporate raid

Murdoch on Microsoft-Yahoo: "There won't be a deal"

Nicholas Carlson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:40:00 EDT

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, who says shareholders shouldn't give corporate raider Carl Icahn control of the company because he has no plan other than to sell to Microsoft, got a boost from an unexpected supporter: News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch told reporters at Allen & Co.'s Sun Valley retreat that "in six months, (Microsoft) will walk away." The crusty mogul added: "There won't be a deal. There's bad personal feelings."

Yang himself touched on those personal feelings when he told the Wall Street Journal: "I think that the destabilizing by Microsoft has become more and more intentional. I am not happy about it."

Somebody clue Yang in. Everyone who isn't a Yahoo shareholder is happy to "intentionally" hurt Yahoo for their own personal gain, if that's what it takes. Everyone including Murdoch — who is probably hoping his comments might help keep Yahoo shares low enough for Yang to reconsider his pricey offer to tuck MySpace into Yahoo(Photo by AP/Pizac)

Microsoft to Yahoo shareholders: replace Yahoo board and we'll talk buyout

Nicholas Carlson — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Yahoo shareholders allied with corporate raider Carl Icahn just got their wish. In a statement, Microsoft has announced that if Yahoo shareholders replace Yahoo's current board during an annual shareholder meeting on August 1, Microsoft will resume merger talks with Yahoo. As for Yahoo's current board, a Microsoft statement reads: "we have concluded that we cannot reach an agreement with them." The full statement:

Microsoft Statement Regarding Carl Icahn Letter

REDMOND, Wash. — July 7, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. today issued the following statement:

In the past week we have had the opportunity to discuss with Carl Icahn the prospects for a possible agreement between Microsoft and Yahoo!.

Despite working since January 31 of this year, as well as in the early part of last year, we have never been able to reach an agreement in a timely way on acceptable terms with the current management and Board of Directors at Yahoo!. We have concluded that we cannot reach an agreement with them. We confirm, however, that after the shareholder election Microsoft would be interested in discussing with a new board a major transaction with Yahoo!, such as either a transaction to purchase the “Search” function with large financial guarantees or, in the alternative, purchasing the whole company.

As Mr. Icahn notes in his statement today, it would be premature to discuss at this time important details such as the price or other terms of a possible transaction. We respect the right of Yahoo!’s shareholders to determine the destiny of their company, and we do not intend to engage in ongoing commentary on these issues in advance of Yahoo!’s shareholder meeting.

As we explained on June 12 when Yahoo! announced an agreement with Google, we believe that our proposed search acquisition and partnership would have delivered superior value to Yahoo!’s shareholders and the marketplace as a whole. We have not changed our position, even as we continue to move forward with our own online search and advertising offerings. We therefore welcome interest by Mr. Icahn in pursuing this and other discussions.

While of course there can be no assurance of a future transaction, we will be prepared to enter into discussions immediately after Yahoo!’s shareholder meeting if a new board is elected.

Reeling Yahoo board talks AOL merger, prepares to give Icahn board seats

Nicholas Carlson — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Yahoo continues to hold merger talks with Time Warner, discussing a deal that would fold AOL into Yahoo and give Time Warner a minority stake in the new company. Another morning, another round of share-price stimulating rumormongering in the Yahoo saga. If the deal sounds familiar, that's because Yahoo sources first leaked the idea back in April. You're hearing it again because Yahoo shares dropped into the teens two days ago. We don't expect Yahoo-AOL to happen, if only because Microsoft is also said to be interested in AOL and its got a lot more cash and pride on the line. In other Yahoo rumormongering: Reporter's reporter Kara Swisher reports that Yahoo is prepared to avoid a nasty proxy fight with Carl Icahn by giving him two seats on its board. Problem is Ican wants four. Swisher thinks the two will come to an agreement because neither side wants a media-friendly, share-crumbling fight at the company's annual media. Because its not at all too late for such concerns.