SAN FRANCISCO — Saying Yahoo’s board “completely botched” takeover talks with Microsoft, billionaire investor Carl Icahn on Thursday launched a bid for control of the Internet giant by nominating a slate to unseat the board of directors.
Candidates include Icahn, former Viacom chief executive Frank Biondi Jr., Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and New Line Cinema co-chairman Robert Shaye.
In a letter to Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock, Icahn said he had snapped up 59 million Yahoo shares, worth about $1.5 billion, and was seeking permission from the Securities and Exchange Commission to amass up to $2.5 billion worth. His holdings constitute about 4.3 percent of the Sunnyvale, Calif., company’s stock.
“It is unconscionable that you have not allowed your shareholders to choose to accept an offer that represented a 72 percent premium over Yahoo’s closing price of $19.18 on the day before the initial Microsoft offer,” Icahn wrote. “I and many of your shareholders strongly believe that a combination between Yahoo and Microsoft would form a dynamic company and more importantly would be a force strong enough to compete with Google on the Internet.”
He added that he hoped Yahoo would listen to its shareholders and “move expeditiously” to close a deal with Microsoft, which earlier in May withdrew a $47.5 billion offer for Yahoo after they failed to agree on a price.
Yahoo and Microsoft declined to comment.
Each company’s stock gained nearly 2 percent Thursday.
Still unclear was whether Icahn would be able to entice Microsoft back to the bargaining table. Icahn has received no signs of renewed interest from the Redmond, Wash.-based company, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The maker of Windows and Office software wants to combine with Yahoo in order to compete better with Google in the burgeoning market for Internet advertising.
Yahoo, which has received a deluge of letters from shareholders angered by the company’s negotiating approach with Microsoft, disagrees with Icahn’s assessment of its conduct and his assertion that handing control of Yahoo to Icahn for sale to Microsoft would be in the best interests of shareholders, according to a person familiar with the board’s thinking.
