Microsoft to Yahoo: You Have No Chance to Survive Make Your Time

Its patience worn thin by Yahoo’s (YHOO) apparently near-terminal inertia, Microsoft (MSFT) on Saturday gave the company three weeks to enter formal merger negotiations or face a hostile acquisition bid.

“If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks, we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors for the Yahoo board,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wrote in a letter to Yahoo’s board of directors, adding that if there’s no deal by April 26, Microsoft may cut its current bid of $31 a share.

“The substantial premium reflected in our initial proposal anticipated a friendly transaction with you,” Ballmer continued. “If we are forced to take an offer directly to your shareholders, that action will have an undesirable impact on the value of your company from our perspective, which will be reflected in the terms of our proposal. It is unfortunate that by choosing not to enter into substantive negotiations with us, you have failed to give due consideration to a transaction that has tremendous benefits for Yahoo’s shareholders and employees. We think it is critically important not to let this window of opportunity pass.”

Translation: All your Yahoo are belong to us. Welcome to Microsoft.