Yahoo! Desperate to Avoid Microsoft Takeover
Date: 03-07-2008
Yahoo! Inc. is trying to buy more time to avoid a proxy war with Microsoft over Microsoft’s takeover bid by extending the proposed deadline to nominate directors to its board from March 14 to 10 days after the announcement of its annual meeting. Microsoft, meanwhile, had planned to start a proxy fight next week. The extension comes after the Yahoo! board was unable to craft an alternative to the takeover that would be unanimously accepted. The latest talks with Time Warner are over a proposal that would have Warner taking a large minority stake in Yahoo! and integrating AOL with Yahoo’s operations to create a strong online ad force. Analysts also suggest that Time Warner would get to expand its media offerings considerably under the canopy of the deal. Some analysts speculate, however, that Yahoo!’s delaying tactics might only harden Microsoft’s resolve, inspiring it to make even greater efforts to put the online search giant under its control.