Icahn eyes up Yahoo!

Carl Icahn is expected to throw his hat into the ring today, with the announcement of a proxy battle against the board of Yahoo!

The billionaire investor is understood to be preparing a proposed slate of ten new board members to stand against Yahoo's current board, after the search company turned down a takeover bid from Microsoft.

Icahn is believed to have bought some 50 million Yahoo! shares since the Microsoft deal collapsed, and the corporate raider has a long track record of staging boardroom takeovers, against tech companies that, including Motorola and BEA.

Yahoo! has set of deadline of today for any proposed changes to its board, ahead of a shareholder meeting on 3^rd July. Key Yahoo! shareholders have criticized the company's failure to agree to terms with Microsoft.

Microsoft offered $33 per share in its takeover bid, although Yahoo! shares now stand at $27.65.