I predicted this from the outset. Yahoo’s board has been negligent in their duties, fiduciary and care, in that they have sat around for 2 months hoping that something better was going to come along or that some miracle would befall the company and performance would rocket skyward. Meanwhile in the absence of any competing offer, or even serious rumor of, the company now has less leverage than when the offer was first announced. Microsoft can’t possibly allow them to simply not respond with a counter offer, else MSFT would find themselves forever impaired in any future M&A negotiations.
I think everyone understands that this is an emotional period for Yahoo given the history of the company, but unfortunately for them this company is owned by shareholders, a very large number of them outsiders, who expect a return on their investment when the opportunity presents itself.
Microsoft Corp. ratcheted up the pressure on Yahoo Inc. Saturday to accept its blockbuster takeover offer by giving the Sunnyvale Web portal three weeks to sign a deal or face a hostile acquisition bid.