Today Yahoo said it has amended the company's bylaws to
extend the deadline for nominating directors to Yahoo's board from March 14th
to 10 days following the public announcement of the date for Yahoo's 2008
annual meeting of stockholders.
The web giant is facing an increased pressure from
Microsoft, which reportedly is preparing a hostile takeover.
Last month Microsoft announced its $44.6 billion bid
for Yahoo, a bid whose value now stands at around $41 billion due to a drop in
Microsoft's stock price. But on February 11, Jerry Yang rejected the
Microsoft’s bid saying that it undervalues the company. Yahoo asked for a $12
billion raise in Microsoft’s offer, which has not happened so far. Rumors have
it that Microsoft already turned to Bear Stearns Cos. Services in the Yahoo
situation.
“As the Company has not yet announced the date of this
year's annual meeting, the amendment will give stockholders who want to
nominate one or more directors, including Microsoft Corporation, more time to
do so”, Yahoo said in a press statement about the deadline extension.
“The amendment does not preclude any party from nominating
one or more directors at any time prior to the new deadline”, the company added
In the meantime, Yahoo’s board of directors continues to
seek alternatives to Microsoft’s offer.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo has made another
step to avoid the Microsoft alternative and started talks with Time Warner Inc.
The matter of Yahoo-AOL talks is not a new one, as previous
negotiations have failed due to economic reasons, but as it seems, Yahoo is
looking into any offer but Microsoft’s.
The discussions between Yahoo and AOL ‘began’ after Yahoo
took the step to ask for a proposal from Time Warner. As the same source
reported, Time Warner Chief Executive Jeffrey Bewkes and Yahoo CEO Jerry Young
met in person to discuss the idea.
Yahoo has been constantly under pressure from both
shareholders, who want to put an end to the situation and are looking for a
quick resolution, and investors, who filed lawsuits against Yahoo for rejecting
Microsoft’s offer.
There are also rumors that Yahoo has turned to Google,
Disney, and News Corp. in order to find deals that it will allow to turn
Microsoft’s offer.
“To the extent that the extension of the nomination deadline
has the effect of postponing the nomination of one or more directors by any
party, it will allow Yahoo!'s board to continue to explore all of its strategic
alternatives for maximizing value for stockholders without the distraction of a
proxy contest” the company explained in the press statement issued today.
