Skip to main content

Starboard to push for control of board in upcoming Yahoo talks: sources

A man walks past a Yahoo logo during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Albert Gea
Starboard Value LP, the activist hedge fund leading an investor revolt against Yahoo Inc's (YHOO.O) management team, will push for control of the company's board in talks scheduled for next week, according to people familiar with the matter.
The talks between the two sides represent an effort by the Internet company to avoid a proxy contest just weeks before a March 26 deadline for Starboard and other shareholders to submit board of director nominees.
Starboard is seeking at least four board representatives in order to gain control of Yahoo's seven-member board, the people said this week.
Yahoo's board has been weighing whether to offer two or more seats to Starboard, the New York Post has reported.
Should talks fail, Starboard previously said it was prepared to submit a slate of directors.
A proxy contest would come as Yahoo presses ahead with an auction for its core Internet business. Some Yahoo investors are concerned that a proxy fight would hinder the auction effort, sowing doubts among potential buyers over the stability of Yahoo's board, the sources said.
Starboard, however, does not want to miss an opportunity to gain board seats, one of the sources added.
The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Yahoo and Starboard declined to comment.
Boutique bank Evercore Partners Inc (EVR.N) has been retained to help defend against Starboard's campaign, in addition to existing advisors Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and PJT Partners Inc (PJT.N), people familiar with the matter said. Evercore declined to comment.
The Yahoo committee is sending out financial information to interested parties next week, and hopes to have a short list of bidders by April, according to people familiar with the matter.
Telecommunications company Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) and publisher Time Inc (TIME.N) are among the companies expected to bid for Yahoo's core business, while some private equity firms are expected to team up for potential bids.
"I want to make it very clear: between management, Marissa, myself, the rest of the management, her management team, and the committee, and the Board, we're absolutely all aligned," Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman said at a conference this week, referring to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. "We're looking at this in terms of what creates the best shareholder value."
To obtain seats, Starboard must win over several of Yahoo's large institutional investors plus co-founder David Filo, its largest shareholder with a 7.5 percent stake.

(Additional reporting by Deborah Todd in San Francisco; Editing by David Gregorio)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

World’s First Urdu Speaking AI Assistant Launched

C-Square, in collaboration with Genesys, has launched the world’s first Urdu-based speaking AI bot called RUBA at the Smart CX conference in Karachi. Similar to Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant and Microsoft’s Cortana personal assistants, RUBA is an abbreviation for Real Urdu Bot Automation. The bot can speak and understand Urdu while working as your personal assistant in performing tasks such as messaging someone. Read Related: www.thepakupdates.pk C-Square CEO, Ahsan Mashkoor demonstrated the bot at the conference, saying: RUBA was made in Urdu because of the local population in Pakistan, and for the large labour force working in the Middle-East. Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions (Safron), Shehryar Khan Afridi, appreciated the efforts of C-Square, saying that Pakistan is moving in the right direction in terms of technology. Talking about the importance of Urdu, he said: It is important for us to learn English, it is good that we learn Chines...

NADRA Makes a Substantial Reducation in Smart ID Card Fees

The fee for the Smart National Identity Card (SNIC) has been decreased by NADRA. Interior Minister, Chaudhry Nisar, has ordered the authority to reduce the fees for the smart ID cards substantially, we have learned. Smart National Identity Card The smart ID card contains  a QR code for easier and faster identification as well as a data chip with 36 security features which makes it one of the most secure cards in the world. Each layer of the card comes with its own security features and it also has secure communication protocols for remote identification. A large amount of space on the card has been made available for the private sector to utilise for their products and services. Although, its expensive private sectot to use this card, once the number of smart card users in the country reaches critical mass, it will be much more profitable for them to use this universal and secure platform. New Fee Structure NADRA has decreased the fee for smart ID card from Rs. 15...

Dell’s Pre-installed Software Makes Your PC Vulnerable to Hackers

Discovered in a seemingly harmless support app. A young security researcher named Bill Demirkapi has discovered that Dell’s pre-installed software leaves computers and laptops open to hijacking. The said vulnerability exists in the Dell Support Assist app’s remote code execution. The software is used for updating drivers, adjust settings and clean out unused files. But after making certain modifications to the app, hackers can misuse it to install malware into your computer or take over your PC. This exploit, however, is not open to any hacker out there as only attackers on the same local network as your PC can do it. Also, you have to visit a website controlled by the attacker to fully execute the hijack. How it Works The attackers simply need to trick the user into clicking on a website. The website then runs malicious JavaScript code which is usually hidden inside ads on legitimate websites, which then allows the attacker to gain the access he needs. Here’s a demonstr...