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20111208 International Herald Tribune

International Herald Tribune, Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Page 18
Business with Reuters
Finance Companies
Few options for Yahoo, and none great
Window on Wall Street
Steven M. Davidoff
New York

Yahoo shareholders should brace themselves again for disappointment. While the board is seeking a deal for the company, Yahoo faces limited options--all with significant downsides and risks.

The cleanest transaction would be for the Yahoo board to sell the company outright in an auction. This, in theory, would give downtrodden shareholders a premium return--one that they have been hungering for since the Yahoo board turned down Microsoft's offer to buy Yahoo at $31 a share in 2008. A full sale would also relieve the Yahoo board of the task of rebuilding the Yahoo business and hiring a new chief executive.

Unfortunately, the Yahoo board has apparently refused to solicit bids for a sale. The company has not said why, but the most likely reason is that with the business in the state it is in, Yahoo is unlikely to get a price as high as Microsoft offered four years ago.(Yahoo shares closed Monday at $15.89.)...

DB, SSN057-86-4042,
December 8, 2011, Thursday,
National Central Library,
Taipei City