Monday Feb 11, 2008
Yahoo! rejected Microsoft's £22.9billion takeover offer today, after deeming it "inadequate".

Board members of the internet giant dismissal of the initial offer is expected to be met with a higher deal from Microsoft.

In a statement, Yahoo! said: "After careful evaluation, the board believes that Microsoft's proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo! including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects.

"The board has carefully reviewed Microsoft's unsolicited proposal with Yahoo's management team and financial and legal advisors and has unanimously concluded that the proposal is not in the best interests of Yahoo! and our stockholders."

Many analysts expect Microsoft will bring a second deal to the table, upping their previous offer by £2.5billion to £6billion.

Yahoo! is hoping to restart merger talks with AOL after previous discussions broke down, The Times reported today.

Yahoo! has spent the past week in talks with advisers to discuss the possibility of linking up with media and technology companies in a bid to fight the Microsoft offer.

Microsoft's offer of $31 (£15.9) per share was below the minimum of $40 (£20.5) per share wanted by the Yahoo! boardmembers.

The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that Yahoo's board thinks Microsoft's offer "massively" undervalues the company and was unlikely to consider anything below $40 a share, quoting a person familiar with the matter.

Microsoft's bid for Yahoo! left some analysts concerned about the future of the internet.

Yahoo!'s rival search engine Google said Microsoft's bid raised "troubling questions" over the future of free email and instant messaging services such as Hotmail.

More than 56 per cent of U.S. internet searches are carried out through Google, with Yahoo! trailing in second place on 17.7 per cent and Microsoft third on 13.8 per cent.

Source: SciTech