Microsoft: Yahoo Is “Unrealistic”
ADOTAS – Microsoft’s third-quarter earnings (barely) beat Wall Street’s expectations and it provided a supremely rosy fiscal outlook for its 2009 fiscal year, which begins in July. But as soon as the report was issued and dutifully reported, industry watchers were dying to get back to the real news: what the hell is going to happen with Yahoo?
In a call with analysts, Christopher Liddell, Microsoft’s chief financial officer, briefly touched on the subject: “The strongest argument I have heard for increasing our bid — simply that we can afford to — is not one that I favor.”
“Speed is of the essence for the deal,” Liddell said. “Unfortunately, the deal has been anything but speedy.”
Liddell is echoing the sentiments of investors, other top execs, and even head honcho Steve Ballmer who recently seemed to be slowly backing away from his $44.6 billion Yahoo takeover bid, saying “we are prepared to go forward without a merger,” in a meeting in Milan this week.
But observers say he’s bluffing in an attempt to exert pressure on Yahoo’s board. In a public missive issued earlier this month, Ballmer threatened to launch a proxy battle for Yahoo if CEO Jerry Yang didn’t play ball – and the deadline is this Saturday. Ballmer added that Yahoo’s better-than-expected first-quarter financials did not change his view of the company’s overall worth.
Liddell is also coming down hard on Yahoo, saying its hopes for a higher bid are “unrealistic.”
“We have yet to see tangible evidence that our bid substantially undervalues the company,” Liddell said. “In fact, we see the opposite.”
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