Just when you thought the Yahoo/Microsoft merger was over, a new menace has emerged. Activist/Corproate Raider Carl Icahn has thrown his hat into the ring, and is declaring war on the Yahoo board of directors. For those unfamiliar with Icahn, he's a billionaire investor who buys up shares of struggling companies, and install directors to do his bidding. Recently he installed a puppet regime in BEA Systems (who didn't want to merge with Oracle), and steered the company towards the merger.
Here's an article from TheStreet.com entitled, "
Icahn Targets Yahoo! Board of Directors."
Carl Icahn is treading over familiar ground, formally launching a proxy fight in a move to replace 10 seats on Yahoo!'s board of directors.
In a letter to Yahoo!'s Chairman Roy Bostock Thursday, Icahn said the Internet search giant "acted irrationally" and has lost the faith of shareholders and Microsoft, which tried to acquire the company at a price of $33 a share, an offer that Yahoo!'s management said was too low.
Icahn said that many investors have expressed dissatisfaction with Yahoo! for failing to reach a merger agreement with Microsoft, pushing him to lead a proxy battle against the company's board. Microsoft has given no indication that it would be interested in reviving talks with Yahoo!, as many shareholders have been hoping. Still, a vote to oust the Internet giant's current board could at least get the conversation going again.
"It is quite obvious that Microsoft's bid of $33 per share is a superior alternative to Yahoo's prospects on a standalone basis," Icahn wrote to Bostock. "I am perplexed by the board's actions. It is irresponsible to hide behind management's more than overly optimistic financial forecasts. It is unconscionable that you have not allowed your shareholders to choose to accept an offer that represented a 72% premium over Yahoo's closing price of $19.18 on the day before the initial Microsoft offer."
Basically how this works is, he'll propose his directors, and if shareholders hold his view, they'll elect his directors onto the board. The more of them he has on the Yahoo! board of directors, the bigger the pain in the butt he can be. Some of the things he can do can include forcing Yahoo! to reopen talks to Microsoft, or even get the CEO/Founder fired.
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