Microsoft is prepared for talks with Yahoo!

NEW YORK: Microsoft on Monday said it is prepared for talks with Yahoo! for acquiring a part or whole of the company, provided a new board is elected after the upcoming shareholder meeting of the internet major.
    
Microsoft's stand is a major boost for billionaire investor Carl Icahn who has nominated a slate of candidates to oust Yahoo!'s current board of directors.
    
"While of course there can be no assurance of a future transaction, we will be prepared to enter into discussions immediately after Yahoo!s shareholder meeting if a new board is elected," the software giant said in a statement.
    
Yahoo! shareholder meeting is slated for August 1.
    
Earlier in the day, Icahn had shot off an open letter to Yahoo! shareholders saying that Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer would not be negotiating any transaction with the existing board.
    
"Steve made it abundantly clear that due to his experiences with Yahoo! during the past several months, he cannot negotiate any transaction with the current board," the billionaire investor wrote.
    
Pointing out that Ballmer's logic is simple, Icahn said a transaction could take at least nine months and perhaps longer to obtain a regulatory clearance in the US, Europe, and elsewhere.
    
"During that period, if the current board and management team of Yahoo! mismanage the company (and their recent track record is far from reassuring), the software giant "would be putting its money at risk and a great deal could be lost."
    
In June, Microsoft had quit talks with Yahoo! after the internet major spurned a nearly 48-billion-dollar takeover bid.