Microsoft Hints at Hostile Takeover of Yahoo
Last week, Microsoft made a massive $44.6 billion offer to purchase Yahoo. The deal valued Yahoo's stock at 66% higher than it was trading for at the time. It was an offer that many considered to be quite fair indeed. Yahoo, however, didn't think so, and yesterday rejected the offer, indicating that the company is worth far more. The ball is now firmly in Microsoft's court, and some are saying it may be time to come out swinging.
So far, Microsoft has only responded by saying that Yahoo's response was "unfortunate," implying that the rejection was not in the best interest of the company's investors. That could be a subtle way of indicating a hostile takeover is in the works. A hostile takeover is when a company attempts to buy another without the full support of the takeover target's board of directors. In this case, Microsoft would simply go out and buy all the stock it could, establishing itself as the de facto owner of Yahoo.
Will it come down to this, or is Yahoo's rejection just a ploy to get some more money out of Microsoft? Time will tell, but apparently this should all go down by March 14, when Yahoo's next board of directors is nominated.
From Tech Trader Daily
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