Carl Icahn lays out 5-point game plan for Yahoo
The bickering continues, as Carl Icahn hits familiar points: nix the poison pill, depose Jerry Yang as CEO, and just sell to Microsoft already.
This post was updated at 9:59 a.m. PDT with Yahoo's response.
After a one-day lull in the Yahoo-Icahn war of words, billionaire investor Carl Icahn on Friday listed his five-step game plan for the company, should his dissident slate of directors succeed in unseating Yahoo's current board at the August 1 shareholder meeting.
In a letter to Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock, Icahn states:
You asked, "What exactly would happen to our company if you and your nominees were to take control of Yahoo?" I will give you my perspective on that.
First, I would work to have the board replace your "poison pill" severance plan with an acceptable alternative.
Second, I intend to ask our new board to hire a talented and experienced CEO (attempting to replicate Google's success with Eric Schmidt) to replace Jerry Yang and return Jerry to his role as "Chief Yahoo." Indeed, it was much speculated that Jerry would serve in the CEO role temporarily until a permanent CEO was hired after the board asked Terry Semel to resign.
Third, I intend to ask our new board to inform Microsoft that unless any alternative transaction can ensure a $33 or higher stock price (of which I am skeptical), all talks of alternative transactions are over.
Fourth, I will ask our new board to offer publicly to sell Yahoo To Microsoft in a friendly and cooperative transaction.
Fifth, to the extent Microsoft does not want to make a proposal, I will ask our new board do a deal on search with Google, but only if it contains termination provisions that would in no way impede a subsequent acquisition by Microsoft.
Yahoo, meanwhile, fired back a response that characterized as Icahn's ideas as a no-go.
Here's what Yahoo had to say:
Leaving aside Mr. Icahn's inaccurate interpretation of our retention plan, we again note that he has no credible plan to operate Yahoo. We believe that Mr. Icahn's suggestion that we cancel our retention plan would have a destabilizing impact on Yahoo and would clearly not be in the best interests of our shareholders.