But they won’t deal with the current board of directors at Yahoo to do so.
Carl Icahn may get his big purple Yahoo payday after all.
Microsoft signaled publicly through a statement that while a deal isn’t happening now, that could change after Yahoo holds its annual meeting. That event could see sweeping changes with Yahoo’s board, and possibly an acquisition by Microsoft:
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 a timely way on acceptable terms with the current management and Board of Directors at Yahoo!. We have concluded that we cannot reach an agreement with them. We confirm, however, that after the shareholder election Microsoft would be interested in discussing with a new board a major transaction with Yahoo!, such as either a transaction to purchase the “Search†function with large financial guarantees or, in the alternative, purchasing the whole company.
As Mr. Icahn notes in his statement today, it would be premature to discuss at this time important details such as the price or other terms of a possible transaction. We respect the right of Yahoo!’s shareholders to determine the destiny of their company, and we do not intend to engage in ongoing commentary on these issues in advance of Yahoo!’s shareholder meeting.
As we explained on June 12 when Yahoo! announced an agreement with Google, we believe that our proposed search acquisition and partnership would have delivered superior value to Yahoo!’s shareholders and the marketplace as a whole. We have not changed our position, even as we continue to move forward with our own online search and advertising offerings. We therefore welcome interest by Mr. Icahn in pursuing this and other discussions.
While of course there can be no assurance of a future transaction, we will be prepared to enter into discussions immediately after Yahoo!’s shareholder meeting if a new board is elected.
Despite Microsoft’s prudent assurance, Wall Street thinks otherwise. Shares of Yahoo were up 1.82 to 23.17 at 10:46 am ET on 7/7, reflecting investor belief that change will come, followed by Steve Ballmer with a rich payday for Yahoo shareholders.
