Academic

Going Hostile

By Gordon Smith, Christine, Hurt, Vic Fleischer, Fred Tung, Lisa Fairfax, David Zaring

It's hard to tell whether FT has a scoop or is just speculating, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to predict that Microsoft's next step is a hostile bid:

Microsoft is gearing up to take its bid to acquire Yahoo directly to the Silicon Valley company's shareholders after the expected rejection by the Yahoo board of the software giant?s $31-per-share offer....

Microsoft has a team of advisers in place for any proxy fight. It includes Alan Miller of Innisfree, the proxy solicitation firm, and Joele Frank, the New York M&A public relations specialist, as well as financial advisers from the Blackstone Group and Morgan Stanley. Yahoo is using Dan Burch at MacKenzie Partners, a proxy firm that would lobby shareholders to try to secure their votes in favour of the current board.

This could be fun ...

Full post as published by Conglomerate on February 10, 2008 (boomark / email).