No, despite its previous statement that it has “moved on” after being rebuffed by Yahoo!, in reaction to billionaire investor activist Carl Icahn’s request of taking over the Yahoo! board through hostile bidding, Microsoft remains as interested in acquiring Yahoo! as it was before. Microsoft has now disclosed that it was considering a deal with Yahoo!, which would not involve a full buyout of the company. Microsoft is keeping its fingers crossed. It is not willing to disclose the details of the new deal. It now remains to be seen what Jerry Yang does with the new deal.
The new deal is rather complex and would involve collaboration between Yahoo’s and Microsoft’s online advertising businesses without a complete takeover. It seems likely that Microsoft may later restart its merger negotiations, if the new deal succeeds. The time for the new discussion is crucial for both companies as Yahoo! is likely to announce its new partnership with Google sometime this week. With the Yahoo-Google partnership being subjected to antitrust scrutiny, any further collaboration with Yahoo! will not pay-off for Microsoft. To avoid any tussle with Carl Icahn, Yahoo! might decide to review its deal with Microsoft. The Microsoft-Yahoo saga is unfurling new dramas every day.
Source: BBC
