05/10, 5:31pm
Counter-offer allows shareholders to keep shares, pays significant dividend
Investor Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management have proposed a new offer to Dell shareholders, who are considering a proposal by founder Michael Dell's group of investors, including Microsoft, to purchase existing shares at $13.65 each in order to take the company private. In a letter to Dell's board of directors, Icahn and Southeastern are counter-proposing a deal to give all Dell shareholders the option to retain shares in the company, plus take an additional $12 a share in cash or stock.
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04/19, 10:06am
Carl Icahn, Michael Dell offers still alive
Blackstone Group is ending its offer for control of Dell, citing a 14-percent drop in PC sales for the first quarter of 2013 and a lower earnings forecast for the current financial year. The withdrawal of Blackstone leaves founder Michael Dell and equity partner Silver Lake to fight with Carl Icahn for ownership of the PC manufacturer.
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04/06, 4:46pm
Icahn still pursuing all options in negotiations with the special committee
Carl Icahn is continuing his quest to take a part in the future of Dell, or at least make a hefty profit off the effort the company is making to go private. The investor is refusing to rule out the possibility of a proxy fight to compel Dell to pay a large dividend to shareholders, despite the board's request that he cease the threat and make a formal bid for the company.
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03/30, 12:58pm
Filing sees great risk in remaining public, including company breakup
In a preliminary proxy statement issued to shareholders on Friday, Dell warned that it would be a risky path for the company to take a lot of debt and remain public, assuming existing profit levels and market trends remain the same. The 274-page statement informs Dell shareholders of how the Silver Lake Partners deal was assembled, and why it feels the deal is the best of all the alternatives before the shareholders.
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03/24, 11:35am
Carl Icahn, Blackstone behind competing offers
According to reports, Dell has received two or more offers opposing the $24.4 billion deal on the table to take the company private. As expected, the Blackstone Group submitted a preliminary offer prior to Saturday's expiration, under the terms of the "go shop" clause in the agreement, which allowed Dell to seek other suitors. A second offer was received by investor Carl Icahn who purchased a large block of shares a few weeks ago.
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03/11, 4:28pm
Latest step advances Icahn's agenda, extant deal likely to be modified
New Dell investor Carl Icahn has agreed to sign the confidentiality agreement in order to allow access to the company's financial information. The investor is part of a larger group intending on torpedoing the current offer of $13.65 per share to take the company private. Dell's stock currently stands at $14.27, climbing on the news of Icahn's involvement in negotiations.
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03/06, 4:55pm
New investors own 20 percent of the Texas computer manufacturer
Investor Carl Icahn has recently purchased 100 million shares of Dell, giving him a six percent stake in the company. While Icahn himself has no comment on his intention, sources familiar with the situation have claimed that he has met with advisors to Dell's special committee, and have urged them to pursue a one-time dividend to shareholders. Additionally, Icahn is likely to throw in with Southeastern Asset Management's opposition to the deal to take the company private.
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01/20, 5:15pm
Could pressure LTE provider to sell off assets
Veteran corporate raider/investor Carl Icahn may have grabbed some of LightSquared's debt. Reuters, citing several sources familiar with the matter, reports that Icahn, along with two others, bought up a total of $300 million of the troubled LTE network provider's loan obligations over the course of 2011. Icahn has declined to comment.
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04/01, 4:00pm
Dish and Icahn part of bidding for Blockbuster
The bidding to buy out Blockbuster now includes Dish Network and well-known activist investor Carl Icahn, insiders claimed Friday. The two are both supposedly making just the minimum bid, around $290 million, to qualify for the auction before it starts in earnest on Monday. The WSJ in scraping information was warned that new bidders could come into play or make unions with each other.
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08/04, 12:05pm
Yahoo Board Survives Vote
Yahoo investors at the company's shareholders meeting have voted to keep executives suggested through a last-minute deal with activist investor Carl Icahn. The vote keeps nearly all of the existing leaders of the company and showed an unexpected level of confidence in particularly vocal opponents of Microsoft's initial takeover bid for Yahoo, including company CEO Jerry Yang and chairman Roy Bostock, who respectively earned 85.4 and 79.5 percent votes in favor of their remaining in place.
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07/22, 4:55pm
Yahoo Q2 2008 Results
Yahoo this afternoon reported mixed results for its spring quarter that it blames in part on Microsoft's attempts to buy out the search engine firm. Although its pure revenue climbed six percent to approximately $1.79 billion between April and June with profits climbing slightly to $1.03 billion, the company says its actual operating income dropped a significant 45 percent to $101 million; nearly one quarter of this, or $22 million, was associated with the legal costs both with Microsoft's initial takeover and the recently-ended proxy takeover threat from billionaire Carl Icahn, who had boosted his stake in the company to nearly five percent in an attempt to help vote out Yahoo's board of directors.
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07/21, 8:20am
Yahoo and Icahn Deal
Yahoo today said it has landed a deal with activist investor Carl Icahn that would help avert his proxy takeover of the search engine company's board of directors. The agreement ensures that eight board members, including company chief Jerry Yang and board chairman Roy Bostock, are allowed to stand for re-election with Icahn's support. In exchange, Icahn himself will be nominated to the board along with two of his previous choices, while board member and Activision Blizzard head Robert Kotick will turn down re-election.
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07/18, 12:25pm
Legg Mason backs Yahoo
One of Yahoo's largest shareholders has declared its support for existing management, according to an announcement. Legg Mason Capital Management, which owns 60.7 million shares (4.4 percent) of Yahoo stock, has declared its intentions to vote in favor of Yahoo's current bosses at next month's critical shareholder meeting. "We believe the current Board acted with care and diligence when evaluating Microsoft's [acquisition] offers," reads a statement from Legg Mason chairman Bill Miller.
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07/15, 10:30am
MS Attacks Google Yahoo
Microsoft today argued that US House and Senate Judiciary Committees that the proposed Google/Yahoo deal, claiming that Yahoo's agreement to support ads through a non-exclusive deal is anti-competitive and would allegedly hurt innovation. The legal counsel for Microsoft, Brad Smith, expresses fears that Google would control as much as 90 percent of online advertising, allowing it to dictate prices and force companies to advertise through it for proper exposure. He also warns that Google could potentially have a monopoly on Internet services.
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07/14, 3:45pm
Microsoft Accuses Yahoo
Microsoft today responded to Yahoo accusations that it made an 24-hour offer by rejecting many details of the story, asserting that Yahoo has distorted many of the terms discussed during the weekend. The Windows developer argues that the deal, which would see Microsoft buy out Yahoo's search business, was actually requested by Yahoo chair Roy Bostock and that Microsoft had been told Yahoo might accept a deal if Microsoft raised its bid on certain terms.
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07/13, 1:25am
Yahoo Declines MS Icahn
Yahoo late Saturday revealed that it has rejected a purportedly aggressive joint bid proposed by Microsoft and investor Carl Icahn. The deal would have seen both the Windows developer and Icahn buy Yahoo's search business and significantly restructure Yahoo to potentially improve its remaining businesses, including the replacement of the board of directors with Icahn's own slate and remove the "top management team" at the company, which most observers believe would include Yahoo chief Jerry Yang as well as others known to have opposed any of Microsoft's earlier offers for takeovers and partial buyouts.
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06/26, 4:55pm
Icahn Proxy Statement
Activist investor Carl Icahn today filed a proxy statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that still insists Yahoo offer itself to Microsoft for a takeover. The filing appears to ignore recent statements by Microsoft that it's now uninterested in a full deal and asks that Yahoo shareholders vote on August 1st for Icahn's takeover-friendly board of directors, who would remove Yahoo head Jerry Yang from his CEO position and directly offer the search engine firm to Microsoft.
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06/12, 3:35pm
Yahoo Ends MS Talks
Yahoo on Thursday afternoon revealed that talks between itself and Microsoft have come to an end, putting an abrupt halt to prospects of a renewed deal between the two companies. The early search engine pioneer says that "numerous" meetings were unsuccessful in negotiating a partial transaction and confirms that Microsoft was looking to acquire at least some of Yahoo's search business, a move which Yahoo now says would have been potentially fatal to its long-term health and hurtful to those contributing to the company.
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06/06, 10:55am
Icahn on Yahoo Strategy
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn today responded to criticisms from Yahoo with a second open letter to the search engine giant. Addressing claims that he has no plans for Yahoo should Microsoft decline to make bid with a newly replaced board in office, Icahn says he would be willing to have Yahoo strike a search deal with Google as long as its terms would still allow a future Microsoft takeover. Icahn doesn't say whether this would still involve the proposed ad bidding system trialed earlier this year or a new plan altogether.
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06/05, 12:35am
Yahoo rebuffs Icahn
As aggravations rise over the controversial $2.1 billion severance plan, Yahoo insists that talks are ongoing with Microsoft, rebutting against criticism from investor Carl Icahn, who recently wrote Yahoo's chairman a disparaging letter. Yahoo highlighted its recent ad partnerships with Wal-Mart and several others, but president Susan Decker said that an arrangement with Microsoft could still occur. Icahn recently blasted the search giant, calling Yahoo's board "deceitful".
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06/04, 9:30pm
Icahn claims sabotage
Investor Carl Icahn on Wednesday issued a letter addressed to Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock, claiming that the actions of CEO Jerry Yang and other members of the board went out of their way to sabotage a potential deal with Microsoft. Silicon Alley Insider reports that the letter sets up a villainous scenario related to the show-stopping severance plan a state judge revealed on Monday. The plan would have a potential cost of $2.1 billion to Microsoft, had the unlikely scenario occurred where all employees quit upon a takeover.
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06/03, 3:55pm
Icahn Hopes to Oust Y CEO
Activist investor Carl Icahn wants to replace Yahoo chief Jerry Yang in the event that a proxy battle for the control of the company's board is successful, says the Wall Street Journal. An interview with Icahn reveals that is goal is to remove Yang in the belief that the long-time Yahoo executive has no interest in selling his company to Microsoft regardless of the price. The sudden use of extremely expensive severance packages, as well as other moves, are evidence that Yang is determined to keep the company independent at all costs, Icahn argues.
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05/28, 9:35am
Yahoo Nearing MS Deal
Yahoo is finally nearing a deal that may involve either Microsoft, Google, or both, according to sources' reports at BusinessWeek. The magazine claims that Microsoft's assertions of wanting only a partial transaction with Yahoo aren't entirely true and that the company is entirely willing to buy out the whole of Yahoo rather than just a portion of the company, which is rumored to be either just the search advertising division or else the complete search business.
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05/22, 11:35pm
Edward Kozel steps down
Amid the ongoing Yahoo financial drama, Edward Kozel, a member of Yahoo’s board of directors, is stepping down from his position to spend more time with his family and the company has postponed its annual meeting until the end of July. MarketWatch reports that the news comes as billionaire Carl Icahn sets is sights on replacing Yahoo’s board in a proxy war, and could be Kozel’s way of dealing with not wanting to lose face in the eyes of other potential companies. Kozel announced he would be focusing on personal matters, including a move with his family to Europe in the summer.
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05/19, 8:20am
MS Yahoo Search Buy Leak
Microsoft's proposed partial deal with Yahoo may see a buyout of the company's search platform in a bid to create a new, alternative challenge to Google, according to tips from those purportedly aware of the negotiations. Rather than buy out all of Yahoo or else strike a license deal, Microsoft will buy Yahoo's core search business and may complete a transaction as early as this week.
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05/18, 7:15pm
MS Rethinks Yahoo Deal
(Updated with Yahoo statement) Microsoft tonight again reversed its stance on Yahoo and says it has suggested a new deal to Yahoo that would involve a compromise between the two companies. The Windows developer does not provide specifics but says it would be interested in a "transaction" that stops short of its earlier takeover bid. Microsoft is conditional in its notice and cautions that it reserves the possibility of a takeover depending on the nature of talks. There is also "no assurance" that anything will result from talks, the company explains.
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05/16, 9:45am
Yahoo Rushing Google Deal
Yahoo is accelerating the process of launching an expanded Google deal to stave off investor Carl Icahn's board takeover attempt and a resulting Microsoft buyout, say alleged sources for the New York Post. The renewed threat of a Microsoft acquisition has supposedly led Yahoo to step up plans that would let any company make bids for ad placements on Yahoo's search system, effectively rewarding Google by handing the bulk of sales to the most dominant ad provider.
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05/15, 11:30pm
Yahoo Rebuffs Icahn
Yahoo tonight responded to Carl Icahn's attempt to nominate a takeover board at the company by accusing the investor of "misunderstanding" the basis of Yahoo's decisions and being unaware of Microsoft's true behavior during its failed attempts to negotiate a takeover of the search firm. Yahoo Board Chairman Roy Bostock argues in an open letter to Icahn that Yahoo was "clear" on its unanimous rejection of the original Microsoft offer as undervaluing the firm and that it had repeatedly declared its openness to a higher-priced deal, which Microsoft had allegedly refused to consider until very late in negotiations. The finality of Microsoft's rejection should be as sign, according to Bostock.
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05/15, 10:05am
Icahn Yahoo Stake
Investor Carl Icahn on Thursday revived the once-dead possibility of a Microsoft takeover of Yahoo by announcing his plans to launch a proxy battle to overturn Yahoo's existing board of directors. The billionaire's plans are now known to be more aggressive than recent rumors have predicted and include the nomination of a slate that would completely replace the Yahoo overseers, essentially guaranteeing a Microsoft buyout of the search engine firm by installing a board friendly to the idea. Icahn himself is one of the nominees.
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05/13, 5:15pm
Icahn and Yahoo Deal
Activist investor Carl Icahn may use his clout to instigate a proxy battle that pushes Yahoo towards accepting a Microsoft takeover, CNBC says. Those talking to Icahn allegedly say he will push for the nomination of three or four candidates to Yahoo's board of directors that would favor a Microsoft buyout, giving just enough influence on the ten-person board to have it vote in favor of the acquisition that it has resisted in the past. Dissatisfaction with Yahoo's rejection of Microsoft offers could make this simple, the sources explain.
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