Starboard takes steps toward proxy fight with Yahoo - Bloomberg

REUTERS - Starboard Value LP is taking initial steps toward a potential proxy fight with Yahoo Inc, indicating that the activist investor is not satisfied with Yahoo's efforts to streamline its business, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Okapi Partners LLC, a proxy-solicitation adviser typically used by Starboard, has been calling Yahoo shareholders, Bloomberg said.

Starboard, which owns about 0.75 percent of Yahoo, has been pushing for changes at the Internet company since 2014, asking it to separate its Asian assets and sell the core business.

In January, Starboard ramped up pressure on Yahoo, taking aim at Chief Executive Marissa Mayer and her leadership team and raising the prospect that a proxy battle is approaching.

The activist investor had also threatened to shake up the board if Yahoo's stock continued to suffer.

Other shareholders have also demanded Yahoo to separate its Asian assets, including stakes in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and Yahoo Japan Corp, and conduct an immediate public auction of the core business, including search and advertising businesses.

The San Francisco Chronicle also reported on Wednesday that Yahoo said it would cut more than 300 jobs by April 18, as part of 1,500 layoffs announced earlier.

Yahoo, Starboard Value and Okapi Partners could not be reached for comment outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)