Yahoo! defends its privacy in court

21st May 2008

Attorneys for shareholders in Yahoo! are calling for the release of information regarding Microsoft's $47.5 billion (£24.2 billion) bid for the search pioneer.

The shareholders are alleging that Yahoo! is protecting documents in order to protect itself from a proxy takeover led by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, which would see the company pursue a deal with Microsoft once more.

But Yahoo! attorneys maintain that the information is confidential and should not be released.

It emerged earlier this week that Microsoft is discussing the possibility of a search advertising deal with Yahoo! that would stop short of a total takeover.

But Yahoo! shareholders claim the company betrayed its commitment to investors when it refused the software giant's initial acquisition offer.

Meanwhile, Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, said at the firm's UK conference earlier this week that it would be willing to extend the pilot advertising project with Yahoo! that took place earlier this year, which Mr Brin called a success.