mergers-acquisitions

Update at 3:26 p.m. PDT, with analysts comments

Yahoo shares fell below $20 on Tuesday, coming within a breath away from its previous trading level before Microsoft launched its failed buyout attempt five months ago.

Shares of Yahoo, which have been on a steep decline since the company announced on June 12 that Microsoft was no longer interested in buying the company and that a partial sale of its search business to the software giant did not make sense for Yahoo, dropped as much as 5.2 percent in intraday trading to $19.59 a share, before recovering … Read more

Update at 10:08 a.m. PDT, with additional statistics on IPO market.

U.S. venture-backed companies failed to launch a single initial public offering in the second quarter of 2008, a dire situation not seen since early 2003, according to the Quarterly U.S. Liquidity Report released Tuesday by Dow Jones VentureSource.

That's nada, zero, zilch.

And the mergers and acquisitions market for U.S. venture-backed companies did not fare much better in the second quarter, dropping 42 percent in the number of deals completed compared with the same time last year.

In the second quarter, 56 transactions … Read more

Updated at 3:54 p.m. PDT with comments from institutional investor advisory services analyst on Yahoo's investor presentation materials.

Yahoo published on Monday its version of the details of the failed merger talks with Microsoft, as the Internet pioneer heads toward the frontlines of its proxy battle with investor activist Carl Icahn.

Yahoo, which wants its current nine-member board to be re-elected at its annual shareholders meeting on August 1 and is up against Icahn's dissident directors slate, is hoping to woo investors in its direction with a presentation filed with Securities and Exchange Commission.

The presentation … Read more

Update 1 p.m. PDT, with more information on the timing of Icahn's definitive proxy and alternatives.

Investor activist Carl Icahn is expected to file his definitive proxy by July 4, signaling whether he will ultimately run a dissident slate of directors to unseat a majority of Yahoo's nine board members, or look to oust just a few, according to sources familiar with the billionaire investor.

Icahn is gearing up to share another round on his "views about Yahoo and its management shortly," according to a posting on his Icahn Report blog Friday.

Icahn, who filed another preliminary proxy just the other day, … Read more

Update 10:32 a.m. PDT: Added more comments from Gates in his interview and a late morning trading price for Yahoo.

Microsoft's Bill Gates, in an NBC interview with Tom Brokaw, said a deal with Yahoo is unlikely, according to a CNBC report Friday.

Yahoo shares fell 2.81 percent to $20.77 in late morning trading, as the broader markets also slumped.

During his interview, Gates said "I don't think that one is likely," in reference to a Microsoft-Yahoo deal. He added, however, that he believes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will find "plenty … Read more

Yahoo is gearing up to hit the road with its investor presentation and it wants to set the record straight, said one source close to the situation.

The Internet company did have substantial negotiations with Microsoft over the software giant's proposal for a partial deal, before the talks broke off several weeks ago, said the source, noting that a characterization by one of the company's investors was incorrect.

"Yahoo did negotiate over the terms...They negotiated over the TAC rate, and Microsoft responded by making improvements to their proposal," said the source, in contrast with earlier … Read more

Did he, or didn't he? Apparently, he didn't.

A report out of Europe cited Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's Platforms and Services Division, saying the software giant would be interested in bidding on a Yahoo under new management. But that isn't so, a Microsoft representative told CNET News.com.

Earlier this morning, the Silicon Alley Insider referenced a Bloomberg story that cited a Financial Times Deutschland article, regarding Johnson's alleged comments. Silicon Alley Insider, rightly so, questioned whether something got lost in the English-to-German-to-English translation.

According to a Microsoft representative, Johnson did not suggest such … Read more

In the coming days, Yahoo investors should expect to see shareholder activist Carl Icahn filing the final version of his proxy, indicating to what degree he seeks to control Yahoo's board and keep the door open to Microsoft.

Icahn, who initially launched his proxy fight to push a merger between Yahoo and Microsoft and subsequently saw talks on even a partial search buyout deal fall through, is expected to print and disseminate his definitive proxy materials within the next two weeks, say people familiar with the proxy process.

That document will indicate whether he plans to try to oust … Read more

Updated 1:36 PM PDT, to include a statement from Icahn.

What's on Carl Icahn's mind? He's offered a peek Thursday, with the launch of his long-dormant blog.

The Icahn Report went live with blog postings ranging from "Corporate Democracy is a Myth" to "Absurdity of Corporate Board Elections" to "About CEOs - Anti-Darwinian Metaphor - Survival of the Unfittest," to name a few. The site's debut comes more than five months after the domain name was created.

Icahn outlined his reasons for creating the blog, with this statement: