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Icahn's push at Yahoo gets lift
21.05.08
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has been given a boost in his campaign to force Yahoo back into takeover talks with Microsoft.
Third Point, the $5.7 billion (£2.91 billion) hedge fund headed by activist Dan Loeb, has built a stake of more than five million shares in Yahoo and may double that, according to analysts.
Oil investor T Boone Pickens has also climbed on the bandwagon, revealing he has bought 10 million Yahoo shares. "Icahn jumps in first, I jump in behind him," he said.
Icahn backers now hold or plan to accumulate a total of about 80 million Yahoo shares, ormore than 5% of the company.
The activist investor believes that Yahoo's rejection of Microsoft's $45.7 billion bid was a blunder.
But his campaign became more complicated this week with Microsoft and Yahoo restarting talks on more limited options for alliance.
Under the terms now being discussed, Microsoft would buy the company's search business - its principal reason for wanting Yahoo in the first place.
