Report: Yahoo directors hash over Microsoft's merger deadline
While Yahoo's investors would like a higher bid from the deep-pocketed software giant, they also want the deal done and are growing concerned.
Yahoo's board of directors on Sunday reportedly hashed over Microsoft's three-week deadline to close its mega-merger bid, according to a report in the Financial Times
The report did not note whether the directors would authorize the Internet pioneer to engage in formal negotiations with Microsoft. (On Sunday evening, The Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo on Monday would issue a rebuttal to the new deadline.)
Microsoft launched an unsolicited bid for Yahoo on Feb. 1, in a deal initially valued at $31 a share. But Yahoo rejected the offer as undervaluing the company.
And while Yahoo's investors would also like a higher bid, they also want the deal done and are growing concerned, one major Yahoo institutional investor told CNET News.com Saturday. And should Microsoft engage in a proxy fight with Yahoo that ultimately goes before a shareholder vote and is successful, Yahoo's management and its current board would, in essence, lose control over the company's destiny.
Microsoft's big bid for Yahoo
This institutional investor has also previously told Yahoo's independent directors he may be willing to support a new board, if they didn't engage in formal talks with Microsoft. But such threats may not be enough to push Yahoo to engage with Microsoft without a higher bid.
"(Yahoo) wants to maximize value for shareholders and that is what we're going to do," a source told CNET News.com on Sunday.
Take note: Some of Yahoo's directors have faced proxy fights before, so they're battle-tested.