Struggling Internet company Yahoo has struck a pact with its billionaire critic Carl Icahn by giving the hedge fund activist a minority presence on its board to avoid a potentially tempestuous showdown at a shareholder meeting next month.
Facing crumbling support among Yahoo investors, Icahn abandoned on Monday his efforts to overthrow the leadership of the embattled Silicon Valley company and force its sale to Microsoft.
Instead, the 72-year-old Icahn & Co hedge fund manager settled for an offer of three seats on Yahoo’s board. One director will stand down and the board will expand from nine to 11 members.
Wall Street analysts greeted it as a qualified victory for Yahoo’s founder, Jerry Yang (楊致遠), who has pressed hard to maintain its independence and who waged an energetic campaign to discredit Icahn.
Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock was “gratified” to reach a deal.
“We look forward to working productively with Carl and new members of the board on continuing to improve the company’s performance and enhancing stockholder value,” he said.
The pact ends a vitriolic two months in which Yahoo and Icahn have traded stinging accusations. The showdown arose after Yahoo turned down a US$47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft, angering investors who have grown impatient with its failure to keep up with Google as a leader in lucrative online searches.
As Yahoo’s annual meeting next Friday approached, the prospect of a hastily compiled slate of Icahn’s friends running the company appears to have been too much for institutional shareholders. The balance tipped on Friday when Yahoo’s second-biggest investor, the fund management firm Legg Mason, decided to support the existing leadership.
Scott Kessler, an equities analyst at Standard & Poor’s in New York, said the upshot amounted to a defeat for Icahn.
“The writing’s not only on the wall but on an agreement for all to see,” he said.
In spite of the deal, there would be pressure for a shake- up in recognition of discontent among a sizeable minority of investors, Kessler said.
“Jerry Yang’s been back in place for a year and a lot of people think he is not the right person for the job. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were some management changes to come,” Kessler said.
Icahn will take one of the board seats handed to his group under the deal, which is subject to approval by investors.
In a statement, Icahn said a sale of the firm or of its core search business should be given “full consideration.”
But striking a conciliatory note, he said: “I believe this is a good outcome and that we will have a strong working relationship going forward.”
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
RSS