Yahoo: The Retreat Continues - Or Does It?

Mr. Market keeps singing the same song on Yahoo (YHOO): a new Microsoft (MSFT) bid or an investor-led proxy battle does not appear that likely.

Yahoo shares were down earlier today for the third straight session, as hopes for a revived deal continued to fade this morning. “Our research indicates that [the] Microsoft/Yahoo deal is dead for good,” Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research wrote in a note over the weekend. “Investor optimism that MSFT may revisit YHOO is probably misplaced. Getting DOJ’s approval would have been almost impossible as anti-trust issues in this potential combination are to serious to ignore…MSFT is better off without YHOO.”

But now:

Yahoo (YHOO) shares have bounced higher after CNBC reported that investor Carl Icahn is mulling a proxy fight for control of the company’s board. The story was attributed to “people who have spoken with Icahn.” CNBC also said that, according to the same sources, Icahn may have acquired as many as 50 million Yahoo shares. That would be about a 3.6% stake.

There are several questions that immediately arise. The concept of a proxy fight would presume that Microsoft (MSFT) is willing to come back with a new offer; why bother to win control of the board otherwise? No other bidders for Yahoo emerged during its long struggle with Microsoft; what other outcome would he or other institutional investors imagine?

The deadline for nominating directors to the Yahoo board is end of the day Thursday.

Yahoo, which had traded lower earlier in the session, is now up $1.42 at $26.68.

Comments

[hereisbasso]

Perhaps he wants to bring CC, BBI, and YHOO together?

[User 192846]

Wait, Mr. Savits are you telling me you take financial advice from people who don't know the difference between 'to' and 'too' (see quote from Trip Chowdhry)?

[WAKEUP]

User 192846: "Wait, Mr. Savits are you telling me you take financial advice from people who don't know the difference between 'to' and 'too'...?" Typos happen, User 192846, and they are not worthy of a "financially"... oriented comment. So, where do you teach English, at? (I know, "at", in this sentence is a dangling participle, or something like that. So, write me up, Mrs. Crabtree, and I'll take the note home to my mom. She won't care, though; she's TWO busy!) Oh, by the way, there should be a comma, after Mr. Savitz's name, in your comment. Is it time for recess, yet?