(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-09 16:06

SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc.'s board reportedly held a special meeting Friday to discuss how to handle the slumping Internet pioneer's first response to Microsoft Corp.'s week-old takeover bid, setting the stage for either a quick resolution or months of acrimonious wrangling.

A man drives a Mini Cooper with a Yahoo! logo in front of Yahoo! headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, February 1, 2008. [Agencies]

After fruitlessly searching for other suitors, Yahoo's options appear to have boiled down to a tough choice.

In the most likely outcome foreseen by industry analysts, Yahoo will either begin negotiating the final terms of an amicable sale to Microsoft or undergo a painful reorganization that would include relinquishing control of its search engine and a big piece of its advertising to rival Google Inc.

If it's rebuffed, Microsoft has indicated it may try to override Yahoo's board and take its offer directly to the company's shareholders in a battle that could drag on through the spring.

Microsoft still has time to weigh its options because the deadline for nominating a different slate of Yahoo directors - a key weapon in hostile takeover attempts - isn't until March 13.

Yahoo declined to confirm the Friday board meeting, which was first reported by TechCrunch, an influential blog that broke the news of Google Inc.'s acquisition of online video pioneer YouTube in 2006.

Another well-regarded blog, BoomTown, reported Friday's board meeting occurred on a phone conference and that all 10 directors would convene Feb. 13 for an all-day meeting at Yahoo's Sunnyvale headquarters. BoomTown didn't identify its sources.

"As a matter of policy, we don't comment on when the board meets," a Yahoo spokesman said, reiterating the company's previous promise to pursue a course that will "maximize long-term value for shareholders."

As of late Friday, Yahoo hadn't issued any additional statements about the Microsoft offer.

Microsoft hasn't set a timetable for Yahoo to respond to its offer, valued at $44.6 billion, or $31 per share, when it was announced a week ago.

The bid was 62 percent above Yahoo's sagging stock at the time, making it difficult for Yahoo's board to reject unless the company can devise a plan compelling enough to produce a similar lift to its market value.

Yahoo's alternatives include lining up competing offers, but some of the most logical bidders - a list including AT&T Inc., News Corp. and Comcast Corp. - decided to stay on the sidelines. A leveraged buyout loomed as another possibility, but the credit crunch appears to have closed that route.

Most analysts believe Yahoo ultimately will fall into Microsoft's clutches, although the board will likely try to extract a higher offer.

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