defa14a
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 14A
(Rule 14A-101)
Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(Amendment No. __)
|
|
|
Filed by the Registrant þ |
Filed by a Party other than the Registrant o |
|
|
|
Check appropriate box: |
o
|
|
Preliminary Proxy Statement |
o
|
|
Confidential, For Use of the Commission Only (as permitted
by Rule 14a-6(e)(2)) |
o
|
|
Definitive Proxy Statement |
þ
|
|
Definitive Additional Materials |
o
|
|
Soliciting Material under Rule 14a-12 |
Yahoo! Inc.
(Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if Other Than the Registrant)
|
|
|
Payment of filing fee (Check the appropriate box): |
þ
|
|
No fee required. |
o
|
|
Fee computed on table below per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and 0-11. |
|
|
(1) Title of each class of securities to which transaction applies: |
|
|
|
|
|
(2) Aggregate number of securities to which transaction applies: |
|
|
|
|
|
(3) Per unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed pursuant to Exchange
Act Rule 0-11 (Set forth the amount on which the filing fee is calculated and state how it
was determined): |
|
|
|
|
|
(4) Proposed maximum aggregate value of transaction: |
|
|
|
|
|
(5) Total fee paid: |
|
|
|
o
|
|
Fee paid previously with preliminary materials: |
|
|
|
o
|
|
Check box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by Exchange
Act Rule 0-11(a)(2) and identify the filing for which the
offsetting fee was paid previously. Identify the previous filing
by registration statement number, or the form or schedule and the
date of its filing. |
|
|
(1) Amount Previously Paid: |
|
|
|
|
|
(2) Form, Schedule or Registration Statement No.: |
|
|
|
|
|
(3) Filing Party: |
|
|
|
|
|
(4) Date Filed: |
Yahoo! Inc. issued the following press release on July 17, 2008.
YAHOO! SENDS LETTER TO STOCKHOLDERS URGING SUPPORT FOR ITS
CURRENT BOARD
Says Icahn/Microsoft Agenda Not In Best Interests of Yahoo! Stockholders
SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 17, 2008 Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company,
today sent the following letter to all stockholders from Chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang:
Dear Fellow Stockholder:
The recently-formed Carl Icahn-Microsoft alliance continues to make misleading statements about
their plans for Yahoo!. Your Board of Directors believes strongly that the Icahn-Microsoft agenda
as presented to us jointly last week will destroy stockholder value at Yahoo!, serving only
their very narrow special interests, clearly not your interests.
Your Board continues to work to maximize value for you and is taking the following steps to do so:
|
|
|
Moving forward with our strategic plan and strategies to lead in online advertising
with both search and display; |
|
|
|
|
Preparing to implement our recently signed commercial agreement with Google that will
increase cash flow; |
|
|
|
|
Continuing to explore other ways to unlock value and return value to you such as
unlocking the value of our Asia assets; and |
|
|
|
|
Remaining open to negotiating a value creating transaction (including with Microsoft)
that provides real and certain value not just the possibility of value. |
In contrast, lets review Carl Icahns brief involvement with the Company to date.
Carl Icahn bought his stock two months ago for an estimated average cost of less than $25 per
share. He is well-known as a corporate agitator with a short-term approach to his investments.
His short-term approach gives Mr. Icahn a strong incentive to strike any deal with
Microsoft that enables him to recover his investment and get back his money quickly, even a deal
that does not provide full and fair value to you. Is that in the interests of all stockholders?
Clearly, it is not.
Mr. Icahn has severely handicapped himself in his ability to negotiate a favorable transaction with
Microsoft. Why?
|
|
|
Mr. Icahn has made it clear that his only objective is to sell part or all of Yahoo!
to Microsoft. That fact, combined with his lack of an operating plan going
forward, means that he will have no leverage to negotiate a fair deal with
Microsoft. He has set himself up for failure. |
|
|
|
Second, Mr. Icahn and his slate lack the working knowledge of Yahoo! and its
Internet business needed to do two things that are required to successfully deliver
a value-enhancing transaction for Yahoo! stockholders. First, they do not have the
detailed knowledge to negotiate a complex restructuring of a large, innovative high
technology company in a rapidly changing environment. Second, they do not have the
hands-on experience to manage and lead Yahoo! during the approximately one year period
estimated to be required to gain regulatory approval for a deal or to manage and lead
the remainder of the Company (non-search) after a transaction is completed. Dont take
our word for that. Mr. Icahn will be calling the shots if his slate wins and yet Mr.
Icahn himself told the Wall Street Journal last fall: Technology hasnt really been
one of the things Ive focused on too much before and Its hard to understand these
technology companies. Thats why you need a knowledgeable, experienced and
independent board to represent your interests vis-a-vis Microsoft. |
Mr. Icahn cant make up his mind about what he thinks will work for Yahoo!. He bought his position
believing that he could bring Microsoft back to buy all of Yahoo!, at one point suggesting we
publicly offer to sell Yahoo! to Microsoft for $34.375. But he didnt do enough due diligence to
determine what your Board already knew: that it was Microsofts decision to walk away and
that it had rebuffed repeated efforts by your independent directors to get a whole company
acquisition back on the table. Recognizing that a sale to Microsoft might not be an option, Mr.
Icahn said as an alternative that we should enter into an agreement with Google (which we
were already negotiating and subsequently signed), and that we should walk away from
Microsofts search-only proposal (which we did after careful evaluation of that proposal).
Then, in an extraordinary flip flop, Mr. Icahn teamed up with Microsoft and embraced their latest
joint search-only proposal even though it involved significant execution and operational risks and
was fraught with flaws that made the headline value asserted by Microsoft and Mr. Icahn more
illusion than reality.
How can Yahoo! stockholders trust Mr. Icahn to deliver what he claims he can deliver when his
actions have been so contradictory and when all he has delivered so far is a risky proposal of
questionable value from his new friends at Microsoft? Yes, the Microsoft/Icahn proposal is
somewhat of an improvement over Microsofts last search-only proposal, but no one should confuse a
modestly improved offer with a good offer. The Icahn/Microsoft proposal was more smoke and
mirrors than objective reality.
Now lets turn to the recent marriage of convenience between Microsoft and Mr. Icahn.
This odd couple collaboration between two parties with keenly different agendas is indeed
perplexing. Why does Mr. Icahn believe he can count on Microsoft to complete a transaction?
Certainly Microsoft is a well-respected and successful company and we have been clear that we are
fully prepared to do a deal with them. But Microsofts flip flops and inconsistencies over the
past five months are so stupefying that one can only conclude that Microsoft was never fully
committed to acquiring Yahoo! either because:
|
|
|
Microsoft cant decide what is and isnt strategically important to its online
business; |
or
|
|
|
Microsoft is more interested in destabilizing a key competitor so that it can either
enhance its competitive position or buy our highly valuable search business and the
enormously desirable intellectual property associated with it at a bargain basement
price. |
Microsoft desperately needs to improve the performance of its online services business (consisting
of its search and display assets) which, cumulatively since 2003, has lost money despite billions
of dollars of investment. And yet Mr. Icahn would ignore this track record and its implications
for his fellow Yahoo! stockholders, swallowing a deal that leaves Yahoo!s future dependent, in
part, on Microsofts ability to monetize search. And, as Mr. Icahn has himself pointed
out, it would eliminate any opportunity we may have to sell the entire Company for an
attractive premium.
In contrast to the conflicting and confusing statements emanating from the Icahn-Microsoft
alliance, your Board and management have been crystal clear about our position.
First, we will sell the entire Company to Microsoft for $33 per share or more if Microsoft will
negotiate a transaction that delivers certainty of value and
certainty of closing. This is the
simplest, most straightforward way to maximize value for you.
Second, we remain open to selling only search to Microsoft as long as it provides real value to
our stockholders and resolves the substantial execution and operational risks associated with the
separation of our search and display businesses.
Third, your Board takes seriously its obligation to examine all value-creating steps it could
take and continues to actively examine many of these now, including a potential spin-off of our
Asia assets and a return of cash to stockholders. These are steps Yahoo! could take, if we
determine they are feasible and in our stockholders best interests, without any help from
Microsoft or Mr. Icahn. But they are complex steps that require care and prudence. These should not
be adopted simply because Mr. Icahn and Microsoft are trying to dress up Microsofts inadequate
search-only proposal.
While your Board continues to evaluate the foregoing avenues, your current Board and management
continue to execute on our strategy to grow the value of our unique
collection of assets. That
strategy is working and we believe it can result in substantial double digit growth in operating
cash flow as we move forward. Our recently executed search advertising agreement with Google
reflects our commitment to achieving our strategic goals, while preserving flexibility to pursue a
sale of the Company or even, on the right terms, a sale of our search business.
Please compare and contrast the straightforward, responsible actions and positions of your Board of
Directors with the behavior of Mr. Icahn and Microsoft.
There you have the situation, as we see it, put as simply and clearly as we can. We believe the
Icahn slate and agenda present significant risk to your investment in Yahoo!. We believe you
cannot count on Microsoft to bail out Mr. Icahns misguided agenda, at least not on terms that are
in the best interests of Yahoo! stockholders.
In contrast, your Board remains fully prepared to represent your interests aggressively and
conscientiously in the effort to maximize value whether that takes the form of negotiating a
transaction that provides full and fair value, with certainty; finding other ways to unlock and
return value to you; or moving forward with our accelerated strategies to lead in online
advertising.
Your Board of Directors remains committed to maximizing stockholder value. It is and will
remain our number one priority. Do not be fooled into thinking otherwise by Carl Icahn.
We strongly urge you to vote your WHITE Proxy Card today for your current Board of Directors.
Thank you for your support.
|
|
|
Roy Bostock
|
|
Jerry Yang |
Chairman of the Board
|
|
Chief Executive Officer |
If you have any questions about voting your shares, please contact:
|
MacKenzie Partners, Inc. |
|
105 Madison Avenue |
New York, New York 10016 |
(212) 929-5500 (Call Collect) |
or |
Call Toll-Free (800) 322-2885 |
|
|
|
Email: yahoo@mackenziepartners.com |
Forward-Looking Statements
This letter contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning
Yahoo!s projected financial performance as well as Yahoo!s strategic and operational plans.
Actual results may differ materially from those described in this letter due to a number of risks
and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the expected
benefits of the commercial agreement with Google may not be realized, including as a result of
actions taken by United States or foreign regulatory authorities and the response or acceptance of
the agreement by publishers, advertisers, users and employees; the implementation and results of
Yahoo!s ongoing strategic initiatives; the impact of organizational changes; Yahoo!s ability to
compete with new or existing competitors; reduction in spending by, or loss of, marketing services
customers; the demand by customers for Yahoo!s premium services; acceptance by users of new
products and services; risks related to joint ventures and the integration of acquisitions; risks
related to Yahoo!s international operations; failure to manage growth and diversification; adverse
results in litigation, including intellectual property infringement claims; Yahoo!s ability to
protect its intellectual property and the value of its brands; dependence on key personnel;
dependence on third parties for technology, services, content and distribution; general economic
conditions and changes in economic conditions; potential continuing uncertainty arising in
connection with Microsofts various proposals to acquire all or
a part of Yahoo! and the announced
intention by Carl Icahn to seek control of our Board of Directors; the possibility that Microsoft
or another person may in the future make other proposals, or take other actions which may create
uncertainty for our employees, publishers, advertisers and other business partners; and the
possibility of significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability resulting from
stockholder litigation relating to such proposals. More information about potential factors that
could affect Yahoo!s business and financial results is included under the captions Risk Factors
and Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in
Yahoo!s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, as amended, and
the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, which are on file with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and available at the SECs website at www.sec.gov. All
information in this letter is as of July 17, 2008, unless otherwise noted, and Yahoo! does not
intend, and undertakes no duty, to update or otherwise revise the information contained in this
letter.
About Yahoo! Inc.
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations
worldwide. Yahoo! is focused on powering its communities of users, advertisers, publishers, and
developers by creating indispensable experiences built on trust. Yahoo! is headquartered in
Sunnyvale, California.
# # #
Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. All other
names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Media Contacts:
Yahoo! Inc.
Brad Williams, 408-349-7069 (Media)
bhw@yahoo-inc.com
Marta Nichols, 408-349-3527 (Investors)
mnichols@yahoo-inc.com
or
The Abernathy MacGregor Group for Yahoo! Inc.
Adam Miller, 212-371-5999 (Media)
alm@abmac.com
Winnie Lerner, 212-371-5999 (Media)
wal@abmac.com