Carl Icahn just got more bad news. His bid for Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) seems to be losing it momentum, and it should. Legg Mason, which owns 4.4% of the portal company, will support the current board.
According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "We believe the current board acted with care and diligence when evaluating Microsoft's offers," Legg Mason Chairman Bill Miller said.
Other large investors may decide to back the status quo ahead of the Yahoo! Annual Meeting on August 1.
Icahn has made two significant mistakes. The first is that he overplayed his hand with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) by saying that he had more support from Steve Ballmer for a deal to takeover Yahoo!'s search business than he actually had.
The more profound problem is the Icahn has not taken the time or the effort to show Yahoo! shareholders how he would operate the company if he cannot strike a deal with Redmond. In essence, he has not made it clear how he can make Yahoo!'s shares rise from their current level if the company has to be run as a standalone business.
Icahn will lose his proxy fight for Yahoo!. He has not offered anything beyond a break-up or M&A event. Why would anyone support something so thin?
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-19-2008 @ 8:20AM
John said...
Are you serious? You need to go back to persuasive writing school. 4.4% is not even close to a majority. And it doesn't take a brain-surgeon to sit on Yahoo!'s board... Icahn as a "Dream-Team" lined up already. I own shares will support the new slate.
7-19-2008 @ 8:21AM
MT said...
"Why would anyone support something so thin?"
Because the current board and management have handled this situation poorly. And worse, they haven't been honest with shareholders. Their arguments are the status quo are opportunistic, at best. They say now they are ready to accept a previous offer. Why now and not before? That pretty much says it all.
7-19-2008 @ 10:12AM
samno said...
Now if only LM can get their own frigging stock work for the investors someone should give a c**p to what they are doing with yahoo. For the love of god the stock is down in hell almost by 75%!!! And these idiots are telling on yahoo?!! gimeabreak
7-19-2008 @ 4:29PM
jay said...
This is a stupid prediction. The yahoo board has been dishonest. They held out for 37 when 33 was offered and told the board that that is the best valuation- They have gone back on that and said they are willing to settle for 33.
Now they dont even have 33. We need the board to go. I ve 50K stocks which is not a lot but I will vote for the removal of the bunglers.
BTW are you on Yahoo payroll?
7-20-2008 @ 7:07AM
tommy_andries said...
I'm no brain surgeon... But I don't think a sale is the best way to go for Yahoo! today.
They'll never get another $33 bid from Microsoft now and selling for less would not be in Yahoo!'s or their stockholders best interest.
It's almost certain Yahoo!'s numbers will pick up sooner than later thanks to several deals they made, including the Google one. I'm willing to give Jerry Yang a bit more time. Rome wasn't built in a day either.
That said have a look at my Yahoo! stockholder experience though... it's... well... interesting... lol...
http://www.hypedworld.com/tag/yahoo/