Daniel S. Loeb, the head of Third Point, has told Yahoo that he will official launch a proxy battle within the week, according to a letter obtained by the New York Times.
The activist investor, who announced his intention to file a slate of directors last month, said he tried to cooperate with the board. But Yahoo's board's "stonewalling, apparent insouciance and decision not to engage with us in a serious manner, has left us no choice," Mr. Loeb said in the letter, which was addressed to Yahoo's new chief executive, Scott Thompson.
The hedge fund manager, Yahoo's largest outside shareholder with a 6 percent stake, is embroiled in his first activist campaign in five years. He is trying to push the board to accept his four candidates: Jeff Zucker, the former head of NBCUniversal, Michael Wolf, the former chief operating officer of MTV Networks, Harry Wilson, a turnaround expert, and himself.
Although discussions were initially civil, the board's apparent reluctance to interact with the candidates frustrated Mr. Loeb, said people with knowledge of the matter. According to the letter, Mr. Zucker, Mr. Wolf and Mr. Wilson received just one phone call apiece from the board's nominating committee, with two of the calls lasting "no more than thirty minutes."
Mr. Loeb said in the letter that the board's inaction signifies "an unwillingness on your part to seriously consider the Shareholder Slate, choosing instead to spend the Company's resources and management's time fending off our bona fide efforts to make Yahoo! great again."
Daniel Loeb's letter to the Yahoo C.E.O.
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