Yahoo Is Writing Letters Again

Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Jerry Yang and Chairman Roy Bostock wrote an impassioned letter to holders today, attempting once again to lay out the case for why investors should support the current board in its proxy fight with a dissident slate nominated by investor Carl Icahn.

Yang asserts that the “Carl Icahn-Microsoft” alliance, which has proposed that Yahoo sell its search business to Microsoft (MSFT), leaving Icahn in charge of the rest, “will destroy stockholder value at Yahoo, serving only their narrow special interests.”

A couple of key points from the letter:

• The Yahoo execs repeated their previous comment that “we will sell the entire company to Microsoft for $33 per share or more” if they can reach a deal that “delivers certainty of value” (which I thinks means they want cash and not stock) and “certainty of closing.”
• They are still open to selling search to Microsoft “as long as it provided real value to our stockholders and resolves the substantial execution and operational risks associated with the separation of our search and display businesses.”
• They are considering a potential spin-off of the company’s Asian assets and a return of cash to holders.
• Icahn has “set himself up for failure” by not having an operating plan for the company. He says Icahn’s team lacks the knowledge to deliver “a value-enhancing transaction” for holders, and also does not have “the hands-on experience” to manage the company through the one year it would likely take to get regulatory approval for a deal.
• “The Icahn slate and agenda present significant risk to your investment in Yahoo,” they write.

 

Comments

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“The Icahn slate and agenda present significant risk to your investment in Yahoo,”

What Yang really means is the Icahn slate and agenda presents significant risk to his ego and his job.