Microsoft warned the board of Yahoo on Saturday that if a merger agreement was not completed in the next three weeks, Microsoft would make its offer directly to Yahoo shareholders, probably at a lower price.The warning was made by Microsoft’s chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer, in a letter sent by e-mail. It expressed dismay at Yahoo’s refusal to enter into formal negotiations over Microsoft’s Jan. 31 takeover bid and warned that without an agreement by the deadline, Microsoft would seek to oust Yahoo’s board.”If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks, we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors for the Yahoo board,” Mr. Ballmer wrote. “If we are forced to take an offer directly to your shareholders, that action will have an undesirable impact on the value of your company from our perspective, which will be reflected in the terms of our proposal.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06soft.htmlMicrosoft gives Yahoo three weeks
Microsoft has given Yahoo a three-week deadline to respond to its offer to buy out the internet company for US$44.6bn (£22.3bn).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7332916.stmMicrosoft sets 3-week deadline in Yahoo takeover bid
Microsoft Corp. today gave Yahoo Inc. three weeks to accept a 2-month-old takeover offer worth about $40 billion, warning that it might otherwise try to win control of the Internet company by running a slate of directors that shareholders could elect to the board.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-microsoft6apr06,0,6541025.story