US media reports have fanned speculation that Microsoft is still
working on a bid to acquire Yahoo to bolster its position against
search rival Google.
An investment group led by US technology sector executives is
putting together a Yahoo takeover deal to be financed mainly by
Microsoft, said the Tech Crunch website.
Citing unnamed sources, Tech Crunch said the investors are
looking to borrow $20bn from Microsoft to buy Yahoo for about $15 a
share.
The deal would give Microsoft a way to control Yahoo's search
assets without having to own the rest of the company, Tech Crunch
said.
Bloomberg financial news service later dismissed the possibility
of such a deal, citing unnamed sources as saying Microsoft was not
discussing any financing plan for a Yahoo deal.
Neither Microsoft nor Yahoo has commented, but Yahoo issued the
standard response that it would not comment on rumour or
speculation, Bloomberg said.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer
dismissed the possibility of another buyout offer in November,
but said Yahoo's search business was still of interest.
In December, Yahoo shareholder Ivory Investment Management
called on the board to re-open talks with Microsoft to buy Yahoo's
search business.
Ivory made the call in an open letter to the Yahoo board as
1,500 Yahoo employees received redundancy notices as part of
the company's cost savings plan.
Yahoo has suffered a $30m loss in value since outgoing chief
executive Yang rejected a buyout offer from Microsoft at $33 a
share or $47.5bn in February 2008.