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Microsoft and Yahoo meet for first time since bid

Representatives from Microsoft and Yahoo met on Monday (March 10th) to discuss the former's takeover bid for the internet company, the Wall Street Journal reported today (March 14th).

Citing people "familiar with the matter", the paper revealed that this was the first meeting the two had had since Microsoft made its unsolicited offer in January of $44.6 billion, which Yahoo rejected last month.

However, the Journal said that the meeting was not a negotiation, that no bankers were present and that the session was largely an opportunity to allow Microsoft to present its vision of a combined company, said a source.

The paper quoted a source as saying that the Yahoo executives "mostly listened", and that no further talks have been scheduled.

An analyst from leading research company Bernstein Research, Jeffrey Lindsay, warned yesterday (March 13th) that Yahoo have to rethink its current stance.

"Unless Yahoo management has an alternative plan or is expecting stellar results, either of which we see as a remote possibility, this strategy opens up a risk that Microsoft could withdraw its bid and reinstate it later at a lower price," he told Dow Jones. ADNFCR-1536-ID-18509592-ADNFCR