Ever the coquette

Yahoo has issued a formal response to investor Carl Icahn, who announced his intent to oust the company's board.

The search company attracted Icahn's mad eye when it rejected Microsoft's takeover bid, even after Ballmer raised the offer price.

"A fair-minded review of the factual record leads to one conclusion: that Yahoo!’s ten-member board, comprised of nine independent directors along with Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang, remains the best and most qualified group to maximize value for all Yahoo! stockholders," Yahoo wrote.

"Conversely, we do not believe it is in the best interests of Yahoo! stockholders to allow you and your hand-picked nominees to take control of Yahoo! for the express purpose of trying to force a sale of Yahoo! to a formerly interested buyer who has publicly stated that they have moved on."

Yahoo is currently pursuing a search advertising alliance with Google, which may save it from other attempts to wrangle it into submission. The pairing would allegedly result in an "open platform" for search ads, where Microsoft, AOL and other parties can participate.

A deal could be announced as early as next week.