Yahoo said Monday its board of directors has rejected
Microsoft's 44.6-billion-U.S.-dollar unsolicited bid to buy the
company, arguing the offer "substantially undervalues" the Internet
giant's worth.
"The proposal is not in the best interests of Yahoo and our
stockholders," the Silicon Valley search engine giant said in a
statement.
Yahoo said it would continually evaluate all of its strategic
options in the context of the rapidly evolving industry environment
and remain committed to pursuing initiatives that maximize value
for all stockholders.
However, some industry analysts said Microsoft may come back up
with a better offer following numerous reports that Yahoo has
turned down the buyout offer from the software giant.
Microsoft has not yet made a response to Yahoo's rejection of
its offer. Analysts said Microsoft could choose to go hostile by
issuing a tender offer to Yahoo shareholders or by mounting a proxy
battle to nominate its own directors to replace the board at
Yahoo.
The software giant announced its buyout offer on Feb. 1, days
after Yahoo's stock price slipped to a new low in several
years.
Reports said Yahoo's board of directors discussed the Microsoft
bid on Friday as well as other potential options for the troubled
company. Among those options is a potential cooperation deal with
Google.
Microsoft's effort to buy Yahoo is seen widely as the software
giant's latest attempt to challenge Google's dominance of the
lucrative on-line search and advertising markets.
Google has been gaining ground on Yahoo, which is also under
pressure from the increasing popularity of social networking
websites like Myspace and Facebook.
Microsoft to persist with takeover bid despite Yahoo's
refusal
Microsoft said Monday that it would continue its efforts to take
over Internet search engine and web portal giant Yahoo although its
former acquisition offer was turned down.
The software giant didn't say what steps it would take, but
called its former offer price "full and fair."
"It is unfortunate that Yahoo has not embraced our full and fair
proposal to combine our companies," said a Microsoft statement.
"Based on conversations with shareholders of both companies, we are
confident that moving forward promptly to consummate a transaction
is in the best interests of all parties."???
Yahoo announced earlier in the day that its board of directors
has decided to reject Microsoft's 44.6-billion-dollar bid, arguing
the offer "substantially undervalues" the Internet giant's
worth.
Microsoft's proposal is "not in the best interests of Yahoo and
our stockholders," said the company's board of directors in a
statement.
Microsoft said investors, consumers and advertisers would
benefit from the two companies' combination, which would create a
more formidable competitor to Google in the Internet search and
online advertising markets.
It is not clear whether Microsoft would raise its offer price.
Industry analysts said Microsoft could either raise its offer or
take the original offer directly to Yahoo's shareholders.
Microsoft's effort to buy Yahoo is seen widely as the software
giant's latest attempt to challenge Google's dominance of the
lucrative online search and advertising markets. The deal would be
the largest in Microsoft's 33-year history.
Having been overtaken by Google as the No. 1 search engine,
Yahoo is also under pressure from the increasing popularity of
social networking websites such as Myspace and Facebook.
(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2008)
