fighting

Microsoft officially pulled its offer for Yahoo on Saturday, confirming an earlier report by CNET News.com.

In a letter to Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer confirmed that Microsoft was willing to offer $33 a share, but that Yahoo was holding out for at least $37 a share, or $5 billion more than Microsoft was prepared to spend. In the letter, Ballmer also says he is ruling out a direct offer to shareholders.

"This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer," Ballmer said. "Our discussions with you have … Read more

For anyone who is beginning to tire of the three-months-and-counting Microhoo buyout drama, get those "thank you" cards prepped for six key people, should a deal get done this weekend, say sources familiar with the negotiations.

Some of these folks you'd expect to be heavily involved in wooing Yahoo's investor base to their respective side, and others less so. Drum roll please...

In the Yahoo camp, directors Roy Bostock, chairman, and Gary Wilson, along with Ron Olson, an outside legal adviser to Yahoo's independent directors, have been pushing hard to get past the bottleneck, sources … Read more

Update: Friday, May 2, at 1:57 p.m. PDT

Yahoo closed the day with a sizable 6.92 percent gain to finish up at $28.67 per share. And in after-hours trading, it continued its ride, gaining an additional 1.12 percent to reach $28.99 a share.

Reports Friday that Yahoo and Microsoft finally entered into serious merger talks gave the Internet search pioneer a huge lift in its share price.

Microsoft, meanwhile, wasn't as lucky--falling 0.54 percent to $29.24 a share. The software giant dipped even further by 0.24 percent in after-hours trading. … Read more

As the week drags on, with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer under pressure to propose which option to take in his unsolicited bid to buy Yahoo, here are some stats to put in the spreadsheet.

But first, some background. Microsoft's board, which reportedly met Wednesday, apparently came to no conclusion as to whether to launch a proxy fight, walk away, or bump its initial bid beyond its recently released trial balloon of $32 to $33 a share, according to The Wall Street Journal

If Ballmer & Co. were to walk away, by no means would they be the first. In … Read more

As Microsoft prepares to kick the ball further in its Yahoo buyout play, possibly announcing a proxy fight as early as Wednesday afternoon, shares of both companies rose in late morning trading.

Microsoft investors apparently seem heartened by the prospect, with stock in the software giant rising 1.06 percent to $28.96 a share, over Tuesday's close.

That bodes well for Microsoft, which has suffered three straight days of declines after posting quarterly results on Thursday that showed revenue was weaker than some analysts' expectations.

Yahoo opened lower in early morning trading but was up slightly over Tuesday'… Read more

Microsoft plans to set aside $1.5 billion for employee retention at Yahoo, should it succeed in its unsolicited buyout bid for the Internet search pioneer, according to court documents in a shareholder lawsuit cited by the Wall Street Journal.

The documents include transcripts of a March 24 conference call hearing between attorneys for Yahoo and two Detroit-based pension funds. During the call, a Yahoo attorney noted Microsoft had informed the company that it "earmarked $1.5 billion for employee retention at Yahoo," cites the Journal.

Yahoo's workforce stands at approximately 13,200, following layoffs of roughly 1,000 employees in early February. … Read more

Updated 10:40 p.m., with details from Wall Street Journal report.

Microsoft is leaning toward waging a proxy fight, according to a CNBC report, citing sources close to the software giant.

The report speculates that Microsoft may launch its opposition slate of directors on Wednesday. According to a report in TechCrunch, the opposition slate may include such folks as:

Kenneth Goldman, former Siebel Systems chief financial officer; Richard Kashnow, former Raychem chief executive; James Mooney, Sirius Satellite Radio and chairman of Virgin Media; Vanessa Wittman, former Adelphia Communications chief financial officer; Ross Levinsohn, former Fox Interactive Media president; John … Read more

Followers of the Microsoft-Yahoo buyout saga have a few more names to chew on as possibilities for Microsoft's dissident-directors slate, according to a TechCrunch post.

Kenneth Goldman, former Siebel Systems chief financial officer; Richard Kashnow, former Raychem chief executive; James Mooney, Sirius Satellite Radio and chairman of Virgin Media; Vanessa Wittman, former Adelphia Communications chief financial officer and Ross Levinsohn, former Fox Interactive Media president are the latest names to appear on TechCrunch's list.

Previous names on the TechCrunch list included John Chapple, former Nextel Partners chief executive who now operates investment firm Hawkeye Investments in Washington state; … Read more

Editor's note: This post incorrectly listed Yahoo director Ron Burkle as having been involved in a proxy fight against Southern California grocery chain Stater Bros. According to a spokesman for Burkle, he was never involved in a proxy fight at Stater Bros. and left the company prior to 1986.

As Yahoo and Microsoft prepare to do battle now that the software giant's Saturday deadline has come and gone, don't think of the Internet pioneer as a 20-pound weakling when it comes to takeover attempts.

One member of Yahoo's board, Gary Wilson, is battle-tested - he's … Read more