Microsoft's board held a protracted meeting Wednesday but failed to decide whether to sweeten its unsolicited bid for Yahoo, walk away from the deal or pursue a hostile takeover deal, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Microsoft had given the web portal until Saturday to accept its 41.9-billion-dollar offer but the deadline passed with no further comment from Yahoo, which had originally dismissed the bid as undervaluing the company.
Microsoft's board emerged from the Wednesday meeting without reaching a decision, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Microsoft previously said it would reveal its response to Yahoo's latest snub before the end of the week.
Microsoft has insisted that is offer which represents a 62-per-cent mark up on Yahoo's pre-offer price was "fair and generous". But Microsoft privately has indicated it might be willing to boost its offer to as much as 33 dollars per share, up from the bid's initial value of 31 dollars per share, the Journal reported Wednesday.
Microsoft sees Yahoo as a key asset in its bid to see off a challenge from Google to become the world's leading software company. If the deal goes through it would easily be the largest in Microsoft's history.