Carl Icahn, an investor of some serious substance in Yahoo, is attempting to stage the boardroom equivalent of a military coup. To put it mildly he’s a little upset that Yahoo opted to turn down Microsoft’s substantial offer, equivalent to 72% more than the share price, without even consulting the shareholders.
As a result of the billionaire’s action, shareholders will now be required to make a choice between the old board and Mr Icahn’s board at the shareholder’s annual meeting on July 3rd. When you consider that Mr Icahn reputedly holds around $1bn worth of shares, it’s understandable that he’s a little mystified by the irrational decision, as he put it. He is, after all, missing out on more than $700,000.
Already carrying a lot of clout from his 3.6% share in the company, My Icahn intends to try and purchase a further $2.5bn worth of shares so that he holds an even greater share and even more weight in the board wrangling.
The BBC website also reports that despite rumours to the contrary, Microsoft has now firmly pulled away from any kind of deal and has no intention of staging another buyout attempt later in the year. If Mr Icahn’s attempts to overthrow the board were successful then it’s possible that their stance would change.
So, Microhoo (or Yasoft) could still be on the cards after all. Although, there are a lot of factors that need to be fulfilled in the next few months.
