Yahoo Counterattacks Microsoft's Threat of Proxy and Price Reduction_American Stock Market News_Sina Finance_Sina.com

On Monday morning, Yahoo (YHOO) began to counter Microsoft's (MSFT) threats. Over the weekend, the software giant Microsoft stated that it would launch a proxy fight against Yahoo and simultaneously reduce its offer price for this struggling internet portal.

Not long after today's opening bell, the conflict between the two parties escalated further. This morning, Yahoo pointed out that the decline in Microsoft's own stock price has made its offer less attractive than the initial offer which was already rejected.

Yahoo also mentioned that the statement by Microsoft's CEO regarding Yahoo having only three weeks left to negotiate a deal or face a hostile takeover attempt from Microsoft would be "counterproductive."

The course of negotiations indicates that price has become the biggest obstacle to the merger of the two companies. Microsoft emphasized that it firmly believes its offer - initially valued at approximately $44.6 billion - is full and fair, but Yahoo once again rejected it during their most recent contact.

In a letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, written by Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and Chairman Roy Bostock, they wrote: "We still believe that your offer does not align with the best interests of Yahoo and our shareholders."

Over the weekend, Ballmer indicated that "public statistical indicators" show that Yahoo's search volume and webpage views are declining.