With the deadline for Yahoo! to accept Microsoft's takeover proposal now past, Microsoft may be set to unseat the search engine provider's board, it has been suggested.According to a report in the Telegraph, the software and internet giant is "understood to be preparing to wage a proxy battle against Yahoo!".
The publication states that the move is "part of [Microsoft's] next step to attempt to wrestle control of the business as it aims to go head-to-head with Google in the lucrative internet search market".
If Microsoft was successful in taking over control of the board, it would use the newly appointed directors to rescind a current Yahoo! clause which prevents an investor from purchasing more than 15 per cent of the firm on the open market - a rule intended to prevent hostile takeovers.
Microsoft has already identified ten directors to replace the current Yahoo! board, the Telegraph reports.
They include Edward Meyer - former head of Grey Global Group - and John Chapple, who used to be chief executive of Nextel Partners.
Last week, Chris Liddell, Microsoft's chief financial officer, stated that the failure of Yahoo! to enter into negotiations would cause Microsoft to examine its alternatives.
He stated: "These alternatives clearly include taking an offer to Yahoo! shareholders or withdrawing our proposal and focusing on other opportunities."
Meanwhile, Scott Kessler, a technology analyst at Standard & Poor's, added that he does not expect Microsoft to walk away from a possible deal.
He commented: "This is something Microsoft has been thinking about and working towards for the better part of two years. Microsoft's the kind of company that says what it does and does what it says," the Guardian reports.
