Microsoft 'yet to reach Yahoo! resolution'

1st May 2008

Microsoft failed to reach a decision over whether to raise its offer for Yahoo! this week, according to a report.

The software giant's board of directors met on Wednesday to mull over whether they would take the company's $41.8 billion (£21 billion) bid higher, following Yahoo!'s lack of response to the initial offer.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has suggested he is ready to walk away from the prospective deal - but analysts maintain that this is merely a scare-tactic.

Meanwhile, the original $31 per share bid offered by Microsoft has declined in value along with company stock, now being worth just $29.06 per share.

And the computer behemoth is reportedly considering taking the bid to $33 per share - still below the $35 to $37 per share deal that Yahoo!'s major shareholders are looking for.

The news comes after a report in the Guardian suggested that Yahoo! conceived a poison pill strategy in 2001 that would see its stock sold for bargain prices in the event that any shareholder gained a stake of more than 15 per cent.