Could Microsoft's takeover of Yahoo be anymore imminent?
I've lost count of how many stories have run in the past three months expecting a deal any day...
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Still, while three months might be an eon online, it's a blink of an eye in corporate world. The latest dispatch, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, explains how Microsoft is weighing the nomination of a rival slate of directors to take the Yahoo board by corporate force while waiting before they put a rival offer to Yahoo's shareholders.
"Such a move could effectively delay Microsoft's fixing any firm new price on its offer for Yahoo for the time being, allowing Microsoft to step back from its $42 billion bid for the Internet company while keeping the option of later going directly to Yahoo shareholders with a hostile acquisition offer. It would represent a largely unanticipated middle path for Microsoft between walking away from its bid and pushing forward an aggressive hostile-takeover campaign."
Kara Swisher on AllThingsD, for her part, also seems resigned to a hostile takeover, which will not be pretty for either company, let alone the staff. She predicted a move after the US stock market opened today, although there's no cigar yet.
"The only other options possible seem increasingly remote: That Microsoft raises the price by a dollar or two or that it announces it is in substantive talks with Yahoo. BoomTown prediction: If Microsoft is not careful, someone is going to lose an eye."
