Yahoo! calls Parlay to Icahn

[Thilaga]

We like you, we like you not. We like you, we like you not. It seems to have been a veritable rollercoaster ride for the past weeks as offers were tossed back and forth about as easily as not so cleverly veiled insults between Yahoo! and billionaire investor Carl Icahn. But it seems as though it may have finally come to some sort of resolution before the August 1 board meeting, as Yahoo! offered Icahn a minority position on the board (he and two other hand-picked candidates will join) in exchange for his agreement to pull back with his "toss the idiots" ideology, and back the rest of the existing board in the August 1 shareholder's vote. So, it just may be a "keep your enemies close" move.

This kind of unexpected move did occur after influential mutual fund manager Bill Miller of Legg Mason said Friday that he and the 4.4 percent stake he controls would be backing the Yahoo board in the proxy battle.

Yahoo! just really seems to have a bee in their bonnet about Microsoft coming anywhere near them, regardless of the offer. When their unsolicited bid for $33 a share was offered up, (while yes, Yahoo! wanted $37), it was said that Microsoft "wasn't serious".  Enter fuming shareholders who felt this was more about the board worrying about their tushes than anything else.  Still entertaining to watch the circus from afar though.

Back to Yahoo! and Icahn. We now have a marriage of convenience when just a week or so ago they were tossing such zingers around about each other as this flowery compliment Carl Icahn sent to the Yahoo! shareholders about his now bed buddies:

"Over the years I have attempted to make changes at many companies but I have yet to see a company distort, omit and twist events and facts in the manner that Yahoo! has done in their press release issued Saturday night, July 12."

While of course, not to be outdone, Yahoo! came back with just as much sugary-sweetness.

"How can Yahoo! stockholders trust Mr. Icahn to deliver what he claims he can deliver when his actions have been so contradictory -and when all he has delivered so far is a risky proposal of questionable value from his new friends at Microsoft?"

But, it looks like things are all better in Yahoo!-land. I can practically hear the birds chirping from here. I'm curious to see how it all goes down once the day to day operations actually begin with the new buddies in place. I'd also love to be a fly on the wall in Microsoft headquarters about now.