Contact Information: CONTACT: Mark Lebovitch: (212) 554-1519 MarkL@blbglaw.com Jonathan Harris: (212) 554-1590 Jonathan@blbglaw.com Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP 1285 Avenue of the Americas New York, N.Y. 10019 www.blbglaw.com
Yahoo! Shareholders to File Amended Complaint in Pending Class Action; Will Seek Redress for Yahoo Board Thwarting Microsoft's Merger Proposal Announces Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - May 5, 2008) - Two public pension funds represented by
Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP and Bouchard Margules &
Friedlander, P.A., the Court-appointed Co-Lead Counsel for the proposed
class of all Yahoo!, Inc. ("Yahoo") (NASDAQ : YHOO ) shareholders, will
pursue their consolidated class action lawsuit against Jerry Yang and the
other members of the Yahoo board of directors to obtain redress for the
Yahoo directors' breach of their fiduciary duties in thwarting a merger
proposal by Microsoft Corporation. That case, captioned In re Yahoo! Inc.
Shareholders Litigation, Consol. C.A. No. 3561-CC, is pending in the Court
of Chancery for the State of Delaware before Chancellor William B. Chandler
III. On March 5, 2008, Chancellor Chandler entered an Order of
Consolidation appointing Co-Lead Counsel, consolidating the actions
previously filed in the Court of Chancery, and designating the complaint
filed by the Police & Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit and the
General Retirement System of the City of Detroit (collectively
"Plaintiffs") (the "Detroit Funds") as the operative complaint. On March
12, 2008, Chancellor Chandler entered an Amended Order of Consolidation
providing that any future cases arising from the same facts shall be
consolidated as part of the Detroit Funds' consolidated class action.
The actions taken by Jerry Yang this past weekend confirm what the Detroit
Funds alleged in their original complaint: "The Yahoo Board, in its
desperation to pull off a 'Just Say No to Microsoft' defense, is fighting
off a non-coercive 62% premium offer by pursuing all manner of
value-destructive third party deals." Plaintiffs and Co-Lead Counsel will
continue to vigorously prosecute breach of fiduciary claims against the
Yahoo Board. Counsel have already engaged in significant discovery,
including receiving documents from defendants and third parties and taking
depositions of Yahoo executives and a Yahoo adviser.
Bernstein Litowitz partner Mark Lebovitch stated, "If Jerry Yang wants to
understand why Yahoo shareholders are so unhappy, he should go to his new
favorite search engine -- Google -- and look up the phrase 'breach of
fiduciary duty.'" "Yang's willingness to put the heart of Yahoo's search
function in Google's hands to preclude a Microsoft bid representing a
70%-plus premium demonstrates that Yang was never negotiating in good
faith," noted Lebovitch.
Plaintiffs will file an amended complaint that will encompass the most
recent events, incorporate evidence already obtained through the discovery
process, and seek recovery of damages for the massive loss in shareholder
value caused by Yang and Yahoo's Board.