Murdoch rules out bid for Yahoo
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Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch appears to say he is not interested in launching a rival takeover bid for Yahoo.
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SEATTLE/SAN FRANCISCO  - Yahoo Inc   rejected Microsoft Corp's  unsolicited $41.6 billion  takeover offer as too low on Monday, forcing the software maker  either to sweeten the bid or adopt a hostile approach to clinch  a deal.
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Confirming&#160;weekend rumors, Yahoo rejected on Monday&#160;Microsoft&#39;s $44.6 billion cash-and-stock offer, saying the unsolicited proposal substantially undervalues the company.In a statement, Yahoo said that its management team, along with financial and legal advisors, believe the offer doesn&#39;t reflect cash flow, earnings potential, or recent investments in its advertising platform.Further, Yahoo said its board would continue to&#160;evaluate other &quot;strategic options.&quot;&#160;[&#160;See related Special Report:&#160;Microsoft makes bid for Yahoo&#160;| Blog:&#160;&#160;Yahoo + Microsoft: What&#39;s love got to do with it?&#160; ]&quot;We remain committed to pursuing initiatives that maximize value for all stockholders,&quot; the statement said.Microsoft offered $31 per share on Feb. 1, which was a 62 percent premium over Yahoo&#39;s closing price the day before. Since then,&#160;Yahoo&#39;s stock has risen in value&#160;and was trading just above $29 on Monday morning.Yahoo&#39;s executives were rumored to have been searching for a buyer other than Microsoft. However, no buyer has emerged. Yahoo&#39;s latest moves mean that Microsoft may have make a more generous offer, or pursue a hostile takeover.Microsoft said it believes the acquisition of Yahoo would give it the engineering talent and resources to compete better with Google. While Microsoft and Yahoo have had some success with display advertising, Google has built a fortune on contextual text ads that appear during a search.
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Microsoft Corp will authorize a proxy  battle for Yahoo Inc this week to convince the Web company's  shareholders to agree on a takeover deal that the Yahoo board  so far has rejected, the New York Times' DealBook blog said on  Tuesday.
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DAVOS, Switzerland  - News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch said on Thursday he would not make all online Wall Street Journal content free.
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With Yahooâs shares up slightly on the news that its board has officially rejected the $31 a share bid from Microsoft, it appears investors are betting the company is looking for a better deal.
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SAN FRANCISCO -- Yahoo Inc. spurned Microsoft Corp.'s $44.6 billion takeover bid as inadequate Monday without explaining how its management will match the payoff that the slumping Internet icon's shareholders would have received had the unsolicited offer been accepted.
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Yahoo may team up with News Corp. to fend off&#160;Microsoft&#39;s bid to buy the struggling Web portal, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday.The two companies are in talks about a deal in which News Corp. would take a stake of as much as 20 percent in Yahoo. MySpace and other Web properties of News Corp. would be combined with Yahoo, according to the report, which was attributed to &quot;people familiar with the matter.&quot;The deal would also involve a cash infusion by News Corp. and a private equity firm. Yahoo would remain independent.On Monday,&#160;Yahoo rejected Microsoft&#39;s $44.6 billion unsolicited buyout bid, saying it undervalued the company. Microsoft has vowed to take all necessary steps to close the deal.A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment on the report. News Corp. and Microsoft could not immediately be reached for comment.
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Yahoo Inc rejected  Microsoft Corp's unsolicited $41.6 billion takeover offer as  too low on Monday, forcing the software maker either to sweeten  the bid or adopt a hostile approach to clinch a deal.
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Rupert Murdoch&#39;s News Corp. has moved to ward off any hostile bid from US cable company Liberty Media with a plan to issue stock options to dilute the stake of any predator.
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Yahoo Inc. spurned Microsoft Corp.'s $44.6 billion takeover bid as inadequate Monday without explaining how its management will match the payoff that the slumping Internet icon's shareholders would have received had the unsolicited offer been accepted.
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NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO  - Yahoo Inc  is  reportedly in talks with News Corp  to combine their  Web properties, but Wall Street analysts rained scorn on the  likelihood of a deal that can fend off Microsoft Corp's   $42.1 billion bid for Yahoo.
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Rupert Murdoch's News Corp  is  in talks to combine MySpace and other Internet properties with  Yahoo Inc  to fend off Microsoft Corp's  $42.1  billion bid, according to several reports.
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Rupert Murdoch made clear that he would not accept a sale proposal that would keep The Wall Street Journal out of his editorial control.
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Yahoo&#39;s board of directors plans to reject&#160;Microsoft&#39;s unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid,&#160;The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing as its source &quot;a person familiar with the situation.&quot;According to the report, the source said the Yahoo board has determined that the $31-per-share offer &quot;massively&#160;undervalues&quot; the online services company. In addition, Microsoft&#39;s buyout bid doesn&#39;t take into consideration the business risks that Yahoo would be taking if it entered into an agreement that in the end might not be approved by government regulators, the source told the Journal.According to the Journal, Yahoo&#39;s board intends to send Microsoft a letter on Monday, detailing its position.A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment on the report today. &quot;We are not providing details on the board&#39;s review process,&quot; she wrote. &quot;Yahoo&#39;s board is carefully and thoroughly evaluating the Microsoft proposal in the context of all of the company&#39;s strategic alternatives, and will pursue the best course of action to maximize long-term value for shareholders.&quot;Microsoft, which announced its offer for Yahoo on Feb. 1, couldn&#39;t be reached for comment today. The offer is a combined cash-and-stock deal; in announcing the bid, Microsoft said Yahoo shareholders could choose to receive either cash or Microsoft stock, although it added that the total consideration would be equally split between the two forms of payment.Yesterday, published reports said that Yahoo&#39;s board was meeting to discuss the offer.Yahoo is still evaluating other options,&#160;including a search advertising partnership with Google, according to today&#39;s report by the Journal. It also may still be open to a longer negotiation with Microsoft: The Journal said it was told by the source that Yahoo would be unlikely to consider any offers below $40 per share.If so, that would require Microsoft to raise its original offer by at least 29 percent, or about $13 billion. In other words, the cost for Microsoft to become a more credible rival to Google in the search and online advertising markets could start at about $57.6 billion.Google has been doing what it can to scuttle the Microsoft takeover bid, including playing the antitrust card by asking, in a blog post by one of its executives last Monday, whether Microsoft might &quot;attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC?&quot;Microsoft quickly shot back, issuing a statement saying that a combination of it and Yahoo merger would &quot;create a more competitive marketplace.&quot;(Eric Lai contributed to this story.)Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.
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US internet business group InterActive Corporation has ruled out making a bid for UK online travel group Ebookers.
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NEW YORK/SEATTLE  - Yahoo Inc on Monday rejected  Microsoft Corp's unsolicited $41.6 billion takeover offer as  too low, forcing the software maker to either sweeten its bid  or adopt a hostile approach to clinch a deal.