The full skinny: all the text, of all the letters, between Icahn, Microsoft and Yahoo!

Davey Winder
Wednesday, 09 July 2008 04:08

IT Industry - Market

With the failed Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo! given a fresh injection of oomph by Carl Icahn we reveal just who said what to whom in the ongoing war of words that could result in the biggest and most audacious technology sector hijacking the world has ever seen.

Here at iTWire we have covered the re-energised will they, won't they, debate concerning the kiboshed Microsoft offer for Yahoo! and the involvement of Carl Icahn in stirring the whole thing up again in some depth over the last day or two. Try reading here and here if you need to get up to speed with the back story.

However, one thing that has been missing is the full published correspondence between all parties. Until now, that is. So let's put things right and start with the open letter to Yahoo! shareholders from Carl C. Icahn that was dated 7th July:

source

Dear Yahoo! Shareholders:

During the past week I have spoken frequently with Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. Several of our conversations have lasted as long as an hour. Also, a few of our discussions have taken place while other top executives, such as Kevin Johnson, participated. Our talks centered on the industry in general but, more importantly, on how Yahoo! and Microsoft can do a transaction together. Steve made it abundantly clear that, due to his experiences with Yahoo! during the past several months, he cannot negotiate any transaction with the current board. His logic is simple. If and when a transaction was consummated, Microsoft would be guaranteeing a great deal of capital at closing. However, a transaction could take at least nine months and perhaps longer to obtain regulatory clearance in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere. During that period, if the current board and management team of Yahoo! mismanage the company (and their recent track record is far from reassuring), Microsoft would be putting its money at risk and a great deal could be lost.

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