Yahoo trading at five-year low

After all the Microsoft offer/takeover attempt, Yahoo is now trading below $19 per share. The move from Microsoft has cost Yahoo significant market share.

From the AccountantsWorld link:

By Tuesday’s closing bell, Yahoo YHOO shares had dropped 3.3% to close at $18.75. The drop was more pronounced than other tech stocks, which slipped in late-day trading tracking a turnaround in the broader market. The Nasdaq COMP closed the day down nearly 0.8% to 2,349. See Tech Stocks.

Yahoo has shed a large portion of its market value since early this year, when the company was a takeover target in a $47 billion offer from Microsoft MSFT.

The software titan offered to buy Yahoo for $31 per share in a half-cash, half-stock transaction on Feb. 1 — when Yahoo shares were trading just above the $19 mark. Yahoo rejected the offer as undervaluing its business, and the two companies spent the next few months battling over the proposed deal, with Yahoo reportedly holding out for a price closer to $40 per share.

In May, Microsoft upped its offer to $33, and then pulled the offer after failing to come to agreement with Yahoo.

Yahoo was heavily criticized by shareholders for failing to close the deal. The company was targeted in a proxy campaign by billionaire activist Carl Icahn, who eventually won three seats on the board under a settlement with the company. As part of a move to improve its market value, Yahoo struck a deal with search rival Google to outsource some of its search activity in exchange for a portion of ad revenue.