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April 12, 2008

Yahoo Fence Sitting, Will Meet With Microsoft And AOL Next Week

Duncan Riley

16 comments »

fencesitting.jpgA Yahoo board meeting Friday authorized talks with both Microsoft and Time Warner (AOL) next week.

According to a New York Times report quoting sources, Yahoo’s board met to evaluate Microsoft’s takeover bid and other alternatives but did not make a formal decision on which option to pursue.

The fence sitting from Yahoo provides some solace to Microsoft after a week where an AOL-Yahoo deal was said to be close at hand.

The Times also quoted a “person briefed on the discussions” between News Corp and Microsoft for the former to join the bid for Yahoo as describing the discussions as being only “conceptual..suggesting that a joint bid was unlikely.”

(source img credit: RedBrick Blog)

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 12th, 2008 at 4:38 pm and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  1. Laurent’s blog » Blog Archive » Around the web this week

    April 13th, 2008 at 5:43 pm

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  1. Jason Jenkins

    April 12th, 2008 at 4:42 pm

    content is the ultimate goal here… AOL has the content Jerry!!

  2. Vinay

    April 12th, 2008 at 5:36 pm

    I wonder the Game finishes !! Too boring….!!!

  3. RR

    April 12th, 2008 at 5:39 pm

    aol has nothing that yahoo doesnt have and would nothing without its except its high-flying AIM, that really is the only benefit of the merger. Other than that AOL deal is pretty much junk compared to what a ms-yahoo synergy. I would be all for a three way deal of ms-yahoo-aol if it doesnt take a toll on financial aspects of ms, though this would be a long shot by all means.

  4. Online biz guy

    April 12th, 2008 at 5:59 pm

    If Yahoo decides to merge with AOL, I’m definitely shorting their stocks, it just brings back memories from AOL merger with Time Warner. For years, the Time Warner execs have been trying to get rid of this money pit to no avail and what better ways to get rid of their problem by leeching off Yahoo assets.

    http://www.feedbacksecrets.com

  5. Sean

    April 12th, 2008 at 6:51 pm

    Yahoo finally gives up…
    this deal seems to be inevitable

  6. James

    April 12th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

    AOL’s value isn’t in content. AOL’s value is in the ad companies it owns - some of which Yahoo has gaps in.

  7. magixman

    April 12th, 2008 at 7:37 pm

    Why is Yahoo in trouble to begin with? They have become too large and lost their agility which is what it takes to succeed in the space they are in. Management knows this and realize that getting married to Microsoft, an even less agile company, is not going to do the trick and restore Yahoo to it’s former glory. Merging with AOL won’t do the trick either but it might buy them time and at least they would still be the boss. Unfortunately they are thinking for themselves and not their shareholders.

  8. 113.com

    April 12th, 2008 at 7:46 pm

    Cute picture :-o

  9. Billy

    April 12th, 2008 at 7:55 pm

    Yahoo merging with either AOL or Microsoft is a bad idea.

    To be honest, I’m pretty sick of the news about it. I don’t much care anymore. :)

  10. Dallas Clark

    April 13th, 2008 at 4:18 am

    It will be 2012 by the time the deal reaches the title “???? buys Yahoo”

  11. Jaan Kanellis

    April 13th, 2008 at 9:05 am

    What about Google testing AdSense on Yahoo?

  12. Paulo Eduardo Jacareí, SP

    April 13th, 2008 at 10:39 am

    Yahoo! is like a virgin who is desperately “negotiating” with her suitor not to go to bed right now, but is dying for the wedding to happen soon because besides getting too old and fat day by day, it may not be lucky enough to have a better proposal. Better something than nothing! But who said 44 billion is nothing for an ugly woman?

  13. b

    April 13th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    I don’t think the shareholders are dumb enough to accept AOL. Even for free.

    As for Microsoft, it is just desperate. If it is able to pull off this stunt and purchase Y!, I expect an exodus of talented Y! employees before all is said and done (I’ll be waving goodbye as well). In the end, it will succeed in killing off two companies at once. It might still succeed in that, even if it isn’t able to buy Y!. There are still many more obstacles ahead, including a showdown with EU regulators over antitrust concerns while weighed down by its recent antitrust setbacks, a possible Democratic administration which may provide more than a cursory glance over the application, a possible poison pill invoked by the Y! board, disgruntled shareholders of both companies, negative public opinion, an impending drop in revenues as fewer computers are sold combined with open source software eating its lunch, and a tight credit market that will make it harder for any company (including MS) from getting loans to pursue its prey.

  14. Sudoku Maniac

    April 13th, 2008 at 7:38 pm

    Why does M$ just not buy shares directly from the public share holders ?

  15. joe

    April 14th, 2008 at 10:25 am

    Could microsoft just buy AOL for cheaper than Yahoo?

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