Major Yahoo investor urges Microsoft to raise offer
Yahoo Inc’s second-biggest investor urged Microsoft Corp to raise its $42 billion bid for the Web pioneer and warned Yahoo it has few options left, raising the pressure on them to seal a deal. In a quarterly letter to investors released on Tuesday, Bill Miller, the star stock-picker at U.S. asset manager Legg Mason Inc, estimated fair value for Yahoo to be near $40 per share, versus Microsoft’s original offer of $31 per share.
Miller’s comments came as major institutional Yahoo shareholders have been working behind the scenes to get the parties to strike a deal, analysts say. Around 53 of the top 100 big funds in Yahoo hold shares in both companies, according to the most recent shareholder data available from September. Institutional shareholders hold about 75 percent of Yahoo’s stock, according to Reuters data, versus 10 percent for company insiders, including co-founders David Filo and Jerry Yang.
Comments are closed.