Will Microsoft bail on Yahoo takeover?
I vote for
Independence.
Liddell, Ballmer & Nasdaq CEO Greifeld
Microsoft Corp gave Yahoo no hope of a higher takeover price, saying it was ready to go hostile or even call off its bid if Yahoo maintains “unrealistic expectations” of a better deal.
“Speed is of the essence for the deal to make sense,” Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said on a conference call on Thursday. If no deal is reached by this weekend, Microsoft will reconsider its offer and reveal new plans next week, he said…
“These alternatives clearly include taking an offer to Yahoo shareholders or to withdraw our proposal and focus on other opportunities,” either from internally generated growth or growth through acquisitions, the Microsoft executive said.
He was echoing a public threat made by Chief Executive Steve Ballmer at a conference near Milan on Wednesday that Microsoft would withdraw its cash-and-stock offer, originally for $31 a share, if Yahoo does not start negotiating.
Yahoo could just go back to being Yahoo - sorting out their own company in their own way - if Microsoft picks up their marbles and leaves to play elsewhere. No foul, no harm.
Posted: Sat - April 26, 2008 at 10:28 AM