It’s going to be like that is it?
Microsoft has issued a prompt response to Yahoo!’s rejection of its $31 per share bid to buy the company. “It is unfortunate that Yahoo! has not embraced our full and fair proposal to combine our companies,” it said in an official statement.
Having made it clear that Yahoo! has blown its chance to bow to the inevitable gracefully, it then followed up with a promise of a more robust action: “Based on conversations with stakeholders of both companies, we are confident that moving forward promptly to consummate a transaction is in the best interests of all parties.”
It concludes its statement with these ominous words: “The Yahoo! response does not change our belief in the strategic and financial merits of our proposal. As we have said previously, Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!’s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.”
This appears to mean an approach direct to Yahoo! shareholders and, in effect, an attempt to oust the current Yahoo! board. Some Yahoo! shareholders are already getting militant about the matter and have rallied behind investor Eric Jackson to form a group called Yahoo! Plan B, which supports the Microsoft offer and seems to want to take the Yahoo! board out of the loop.
Let’s get ready to rumble.
Official press release: Microsoft Responds To Yahoo! Announcement
