Icahn's ImClone deal beings hope for Yahoo shareholders

Cyndy Aleo-Carreira — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:07:50 -0700

Yahoo's outlook has gone from bad to worse in the past week. Google announced that the ad deal the company had made with Yahoo is on hold pending regulatory investigation, and the company's stock stuttered to a 52-week low, dropping below $15 per share today before rebounding slightly. Perhaps the company would be in better shape had it listened to vocal shareholder Carl Icahn, who may have hit the jackpot today with another company he forced his way into two years ago: ImClone.

While ImClone is perhaps best known for being the company whose stock helped put Martha Stewart in jail two years ago, Icahn forced his way into a directorship, and then took over as chairman. With ImClone's deal today to be acquired by Eli Lilly for a reported $70 per share, the company managed to fight off a hostile bid from Bristol-Myers Squibb, as well as net Icahn an estimated $815 million dollars.

Considering that Yahoo is trading at nearly $20 less per share than the Microsoft offer, and Icahn was a vocal supporter of a Microsoft acquisition, many Yahoo shareholders must be thinking "if only." Then again, since Icahn took control of the ImClone board in October 2006, ImClone stock doubled in value. Maybe there is hope for Yahoo yet with Icahn on board.

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