mergers-acquisitions

Wall Street is largely keeping a cautious eye on Yahoo, despite Microsoft's announcement on Monday that it is interested in negotiating a possible buyout of Yahoo's search assets, or potentially making a renewed bid for the entire company.

Analysts, overall, still have a "hold" recommendation on the stock, according to Thomson Financial's survey of 34 financial analysts who follow the stock. Only one analyst has upgraded a recommendation on Yahoo in the past two weeks, raising it to a "hold" from a "sell" on June 25.

Nonetheless, Yahoo soared as high … Read more

Yahoo was hit with a one-two punch Monday--first a right jab from Carl Icahn, which is calling for the removal of Yahoo's entire board, and then a left hook from Microsoft, which confirmed its support for Icahn's proxy fight and said it's interested in negotiating a deal with a "new" Yahoo board.

Microsoft, in its public statement, said it could see the value in a potential Yahoo deal, to either purchase the 'search' function with large financial guarantees, or alternatively, purchase the whole company--a been there, done that attempt with Yahoo's existing board.

Yahoo … Read more

Investor activist Carl Icahn on Monday announced that Microsoft is supporting his proxy battle efforts to unseat Yahoo's board, with the software giant indicating that it is willing to negotiate a potential deal to acquire the company or its search assets with a new board.

Although Icahn and Microsoft acknowledge that there can be no guarantees that a Yahoo buyout or sale of its search assets will occur, if Icahn wins his proxy fight, the search pioneer's stock price is soaring on the Microsoft-Icahn news.

Here is a copy of Icahn's letter:

During the … Read more

Microsoft on Monday released a letter in support of activist investor Carl Icahn's efforts to unseat Yahoo's board, as well as confirming its interest to explore a bid to buy the entire company--or just its search assets, with a new board.

Here is Microsoft's letter:

In the past week, we have had the opportunity to discuss with Carl Icahn the prospects for a possible agreement between Microsoft and Yahoo.

Despite working since January 31 of this year, as well as in the early part of last year, we have never been able to reach an agreement in … Read more

Update at 3:49 p.m. PDT, with closing stock price and timing of when Icahn expects to file his definitive proxy.

Investor activist Carl Icahn and Microsoft on Monday asked Yahoo investors to oust Yahoo's board and in its place elect Icahn's dissident slate, potentially paving the way for a purchase of the Internet company in its entirety or just its search assets.

Here is part a statement from Icahn, who is running a dissident slate of directors to unseat Yahoo's entire board, that cites discussions with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer:

A fresh look at Yahoo's search results Thursday by Hitwise Intelligence raises the question of whether Yahoo could survive just fine without its search engine.

Such a question is rather important to Yahoo investors, given the Internet search pioneer has given a cold shoulder to Microsoft, which has previously expressed interest in buying Yahoo's search assets. Yahoo, however, rebuffed the offer, noting in its investor presentation that selling its search assets, including its algorithmic search, would:

Jeopardize the Yahoo user experience and make it difficult for Yahoo to maintain search and display volume.

But Heather Hopkins, vice president … Read more

A bit of deja vu is creeping into recent media reports of Microsoft whispering into the right ear of News Corp. and Time Warner's AOL about potential partnerships, while Yahoo is whispering in their left.

According to a Reuters report, Yahoo and Time Warner have been chatting for months about a potential deal involving Time Warner's AOL and Yahoo. The report, however, notes that the parties don't appear any closer to inking a deal than they were when Microsoft had a buyout bid on the table for the Internet search pioneer.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal is … Read more

Update at 10:40 a.m. PDT, with analyst report on potential break-up of Yahoo and updated stock performance

Yahoo shares shot up 6 percent in morning trading Wednesday, on word that Microsoft may seek partners to make another bid for the company's search business.

The stock price jumped 6.3 percent to $21.48 a share early Wednesday, just a day after Yahoo's shares fell below $20 to come very near the level where they were trading prior to the start of Microsoft's buyout bid in February.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, … Read more

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