fight

Icahn notes Yahoo-Google deal maybe worthwhile

Update: June 16 at 7:15 a.m., with comments from a source on whether a hostile bid for a portion of a company's assets, not the whole company, is doable.

If Microsoft was holding out any hope of enlisting Yahoo investor activist Carl Icahn to its side of the table with a partial acquisition of the search pioneer's business, Icahn apparently isn't budging.

Icahn, as quoted in a Reuters report Sunday, said he believed Yahoo's advertising partnership with Google "might have some merit."

Icahn's comments follow Yahoo's statement Thursday that talks with Microsoft have come to an end, after it determined selling its search business to the software giant was not in its best long-term interests … Read more

Analysts don't rule out a Microsoft-Yahoo deal just yet

Updated June 13 at 8:35 a.m. PDT with analyst comments on the Google-Yahoo search ad deal.

Shares of Yahoo continued to get hammered in early-morning market trading on Friday, in a sign that its Google search ad announcement wasn't enough to boomerang its share price northward following Microsoft's exit from buyout talks.

Yahoo was down 6.46 percent to $22 a share in early morning trading. On Thursday, Yahoo ended the day at $23.52 per share, down more than 10 percent.

But the market reaction that Microsoft has left the building and thrown away the … Read more

Icahn to drop Yahoo proxy fight, given Microsoft's pullout?

Yahoo and Microsoft talks are going away, but don't expect billionaire investor Carl Icahn to do likewise, said one source familiar with the investor activist.

Icahn, who last month launched a proxy fight to unseat Yahoo's board and push the two companies to merge, is likely to forge ahead with his active proxy fight campaign, the source said. Icahn is hoping to woo Yahoo investors to elect his dissident slate at Yahoo's annual shareholders meeting on August 1.

"I can't see Carl walking away. Some guys in tech think they're tough. They don't … Read more

Yahoo to ask for dismissal of amended shareholder suit

Yahoo on Wednesday said it plans to ask the court to dismiss an amended shareholders lawsuit and noted it would also oppose the plaintiffs' motion to seek a speedy trial to invalidate its employee severance plans.

In its filing to Delaware Chancery Court Chancellor William Chandler, Yahoo states:

We strongly disagree with Plaintiff's statements made in support of their Motion for a Trial Date (and supplemental letter) in connection with Yahoo!'s Change in Control Employee Severance Plans. It is obvious that Plaintiffs devoted much time in preparing their submissions in support of the Motion. We intend to oppose … Read more

Yahoo shareholders push judge for speedier trial date

In a move to add more grist to the mill, an attorney representing Yahoo shareholders dished up more material to support a call for a speedy hearing date on the company's controversial employee severance plans, according to a letter sent Wednesday morning to the judge overseeing the shareholders lawsuit.

The letter points to Yahoo's proxy materials filed Tuesday, as well as a posting in Silicon Alley Insider.

Plaintiffs in the shareholders lawsuit are asking the judge to set a trial date to invalidate the severance plans, prior to Yahoo's annual shareholders meeting on August 1.

That's … Read more

Icahn issues 'personally liable' warning to Yahoo board

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has issued a warning to Yahoo's board of directors, mouthing the ever-fearful two words: "personally liable."

Icahn told Reuters on Tuesday that Yahoo directors may be held personally liable for signing off on the company's controversial employee-severance plans. That plan, as previously reported, could financially hamstring Icahn's dissident slate if it is successful in unseating Yahoo's board and taking a majority of the board seats.

"If they continue with this line, I believe they (the board) may be personally liable," Icahn told Reuters after speaking to the New … Read more

Yahoo dishes up FAQ on its employee severance plans

Yahoo offered up a little clarity Tuesday on its controversial employee severance plan and how things could play out should major investor Carl Icahn win his proxy fight to unseat Yahoo's current board.

Under Yahoo's employee severance plan, as previously reported, Icahn's proxy fight would set the stage for triggering the severance plan if he wins a majority of the board seats with his dissident directors at the annual meeting on August 1.

The plan would then kick into action should the new dissident Yahoo board terminate an employee or greatly change their duties and responsibilities, prompting … Read more

Shareholders seek to repeal Yahoo severance plans

Updated June 10 at 6:23 a.m. PDT with information from the brief.

Yahoo shareholders filed a statement late Monday seeking a trial date to invalidate the company's controversial employee severance plan prior Yahoo's annual shareholder meeting.

Those involved with the suit, filed in the Delaware Chancery Court, are hoping to invalidate the severance package, which, in turn, could assist major Yahoo investor Carl Icahn in his proxy battle to unseat Yahoo's current board of directors.

The first part of the employee severance package is triggered if there is a change of control, which would occur … Read more

Yahoo-Microsoft partial deal not imminent

Yahoo has virtually all the antitrust information it needs to know to make a decision on whether to proceed with a Google ad outsourcing deal that would pass muster with antitrust regulators, but it has only begun to explore that issue for a scaled-down Microsoft agreement, according to sources.

As a result, any deal that calls for Yahoo to turn over its search business to Microsoft is not on the immediate horizon, noted one source familiar with the talks.

Two weeks ago, Yahoo began to internally explore the antitrust ramifications of a scaled-back Microsoft deal, leaving the Internet search pioneer … Read more