Following Yahoo’s second rejection of Microsoft’s unsolicited takeover bid last week, media reports have been speculating on the future of the Sunnyvale, CA-based company.
As of April 11, various news reports had claimed AOL has also been talking to Yahoo about a possible merger. Microsoft and News Corp. may also be considering a joint bid for Yahoo.
In a letter sent on April 5 to Yahoo’s board of directors, Microsoft CEO Steven A. Ballmer said that if an agreement was not reached within the next three weeks, Microsoft would be “compelled” to take its case to Yahoo’s shareholders.
“That action will have an undesirable impact on the value of your company from our perspective, which will be reflected in the terms of our proposal,” Ballmer added.
In a joint statement to Microsoft, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and board chairman Roy Bostock said the proposal was “not in the best interests” of the company.
Microsoft initially offered to purchase Yahoo for $31 a share earlier this year. Both Microsoft and Yahoo declined to comment when contacted by DMNews.
Yang and Bostock also wrote that Yahoo would continue to launch new products and take actions to leverage its “scale, technology, people and platforms.” See DMNews editorial for more information and analysis of Yahoo’s recent moves.
