Microsoft steps back from Yahoo bid
May 5th, 2008 | by Tony Steidler-Dennison |(Via AppleInsider.)
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has confirmed the move Saturday evening in a letter that has been delivered to Yahoo chief Jerry Yang as well as published online.
The Microsoft executive has revealed that his company earlier this week raised its bid from $31 per share to $33, but claims that a combination of Yahoo’s demand for an even higher bid and deliberate attempts to sour the deal have made any takeover unrealistic. He also contradicts a recent rumor that a hostile takeover was close, instead saying that any attempt to circumvent the Yahoo board with a proxy battle would be destructive.
“It is clear to me that it is not sensible for Microsoft to take our offer directly to your shareholders,” Ballmer explains. “This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer. Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft.”
