Archive: May, 2008

Billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn announced today he was taking the Yahoo! Board of Directors to the court of shareholder opinion. Icahn, who has acquired approximately 59 million shares of Yahoo! (about 4% of shares), put the proxy fight in motion this morning with a letter to Yahoo! Chairman Roy Bostock.

Icahn’s letter to Bostock said he was putting ten names up for election to the Yahoo! Board in a bid to re-open acquisition negotiations with Microsoft.

“It is clear to me that the board of directors of Yahoo has acted irrationally and lost the faith of shareholders and Microsoft,” Mr. Icahn said in the letter. “It is quite obvious that Microsoft’s bid of $33 per share is a superior alternative to Yahoo’s prospects on a standalone basis.”

While thousands of other Yahoo! shareholders might agree with Icahn’s opinion, few of them have the resources to take action. Icahn does. His named slate of potential directors is made up of a who’s-who list of dot-com or entertainment industry executives. According to the NYTimes, the list includes;

The first game of the second Victoria Tech Hockey League (The League of Extraordinarily Injured Gentlemen) season took place at the Boys and Girls Club gymnasium last night. Facing a larger team (both physically and in numbers), Team Metamend put on a great show but was defeated by a score of 11 – 8 by the Viking Raiders of Reliable Controls.

Thanks to all who participated (especially the patient referee) for a great game. Even if Team Metamend scored slightly fewer goals than our opposition did, the games are being played for charity so no matter who scores more goals, the entire community wins.

Last week I wrote about an institution or massive investor that was perceived to be buying blocks of Yahoo! shares. My source was unable to put his (or her) finger on exactly who that person or organization was but he/she was certain the buying fit a pattern that spelled big-pockets and suggested even bigger plans. Someone or some thing’s buying was keeping Yahoo! shares above the $25 mark, far higher than observers expected after Microsoft bailed on its acquisition attempt.

Guess what… Yahoo!’s back in play.

Today legendary activist investor, Carl Icahn, announced he had purchased approximately 3% of Yahoo!’s shares in a bid to take over the company. He has been buying shares for the past few weeks, apparently in the hopes of getting Microsoft back to the negotiating table. Icahn declared his stock purchases today because tomorrow is the deadline for nominating names to stand for Yahoo!’s Board of Directors at the company’s Annual General Meeting next month.

Icahn is taking an enormous gamble as there has been no signals from Microsoft it is interested in reopening negotiations with Yahoo!, having instead re-adopted the “Go it alone in search” stance. He has been known to take such gambles in the past, sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully.

“Players are expected to remember that hockey can be an intense and physical sport but everyone is participating to have fun.” – from the Rules & Regulations governing the 2008 Victoria Tech Community Floor Hockey Challenge.

It’s on… Team Metamend is taking on several challengers for the second annual Victoria Tech Community Floor Hockey Challenge, a fun filled tournament that lasts four weeks and tests the physical endurance of everyone involved. (We take our hockey seriously ’round these parts)

Our outward goal (aside from winning) is to raise money for various local charities while creating an environment in which local tech companies and workers can get together to meet and have a lot of fun. This year, we are playing to raise funds for The Mustard Seed Food Bank and the Boys & Girls Club Services of Greater Victoria.
Here’s a brief rundown of the schedule: (All games start at 6:30pm)
May 14: Reliable Controls vs. Metamend

May 21: Scheider Electric vs. Telus
May 22: Reliable Controls vs. Pareto Logic

May 28: Reliable Controls vs. Telus
May 29: Metamend vs. Patero Logic

June 4: Pareto Logic vs. Telus
June 5: Metamend vs. Schneider Electric