Microsoft plans next Yahoo move
Now that its friendly offer for Yahoo expired on Saturday, Microsoft has two options: launch a hostile takeover attempt or withdraw and seek other ways to grow its online advertising biz. The tech giant has given every indication it will go the hostile route and take its case directly to Yahoo shareholders.
Under this scenario, there is no guarantee how much it might pay for Yahoo.
Microsoft offered $31 per share in a late January bid valued at $44.6 billion, but Yahoo continues to maintain that the company is worth more than that. Last week, co-founder Jerry Yang cited its first quarter earnings to bolster the case for a bigger bid, but Microsoft didn’t see it the same way. On Friday, chief exec Steve Ballmer called the original cash-and-stock offer “quite generous,” pointing out that it was roughly 80 times earnings.
Ballmer then reiterated the company’s aim to take the plan directly to shareholders should Yahoo fail to warm up to the offer by Saturday’s deadline.