Archive notice: This article was originally published on April 4, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
US Internet giant Yahoo has declared itself willing to hold takeover negotiations with software corporation Microsoft. As the Wall Street Journal reports today, Friday, citing informed sources, executives from the two companies met for talks this week. They discussed Microsoft’s hostile takeover offer. The participants have not yet succeeded in resolving their differences, however. As early as January 31, Microsoft had offered an acquisition sum of 44.6 billion dollars for the Internet portal operator in a split cash-and-stock transfer offer. “At present, we cannot comment on either the talks or the takeover offer,” Microsoft spokeswoman Inger Paus says in response to an enquiry from pressetext.de.
The meeting between the top managers reportedly took place at Yahoo’s headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, and was already the second in recent weeks. Bank representatives involved in the two corporations’ takeover activities apparently did not attend either negotiation meeting. Microsoft is currently showing no signs of increasing its offer for the online platform. On the other side, Yahoo is also making no move to enter formal negotiations unless the offer is raised. A decline in Microsoft’s share price has also reduced the takeover offer to around 42 billion dollars, or 29.29 dollars per share. The original offer included a premium of 62 percent.
On the basis of the current offer, the corporation sees no reason for further talks. Yahoo had already rejected the offer in February. Microsoft, meanwhile, is relying on the influence of Yahoo shareholders. The slump in the US economy could harm Yahoo and its stock. If that happens, the corporation would represent relatively easy prey for Microsoft’s M&A activities. Such speculation, the Windows developer hopes, could prompt major investors to press Yahoo’s leadership into talks to avoid losses. At the close of trading on the US Nasdaq exchange yesterday, Thursday, Yahoo shares stood at 28.13 dollars, unchanged from the previous day.
