(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-06 07:37

LOS ANGELES -- US Internet portal Yahoo said Wednesday it is extending the deadline for nominating its new board of directors, in an apparent move to delay a hostile takeover effort by Microsoft.

A Yahoo! billboard is seen on 6th Street in San Francisco, California. Yahoo on Wednesday extended its deadline for nominating board members as the Internet giant maneuvers to thwart a hostile takeover by US software titan Microsoft. [Agencies]

The new deadline for nominating board members will be 10 days after Yahoo announces a date for its annual meeting, according to the Internet search engine.

The nomination process would be important as Microsoft is threatening to nominate its own directors to Yahoo's board after its unsolicited US$45-billion acquisition offer was rejected earlier by the Silicon Valley company.

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The previous deadline for Yahoo to nominate its board members was March 14, and by extending the deadline the company could have more time to weigh alternatives to the Microsoft takeover.

Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang said in an e-mail message to his employees Wednesday that the company would enable its board to continue to explore all of its strategic alternatives for maximizing value for stockholders without the distraction of a proxy contest.

Yahoo has reportedly been in talks with companies like Google, News Group and Time Warner about establishing some business partnerships.

Software giant Microsoft last month announced the multi-billion- dollar buyout bid for Yahoo after more than one year of unfruitful talks about a merger of the search engine with its MSN unit.

But the unsolicited offer was turned down by Yahoo's board of directors, who argued that Microsoft's offer price substantially undervalued the company.

Microsoft's effort to take over Yahoo is seen widely as the software giant's latest attempt to challenge Google's dominance of the lucrative on-line search and advertising markets. The deal would be the largest in Microsoft's 33-year history.

Silicon Valley nouveau riche Google has been gaining ground on Yahoo, which is also under pressure from the increasing popularity of social networking websites like Myspace and Facebook.