The talks add both flavour and drama to what is becoming a fight for Yahoo. The WSJ says the discussions are part of a strategy to thwart Microsoft’s US$45 billion (A$49.9 billion) unsolicited bid for Yahoo.
According to unnamed sources, the deal would involve News Corp getting a stake of 20 per cent or more in Yahoo. The IT industry blog TechCrunch is also reporting the discussions.
News and Yahoo have held discussions about a tie-up in the past that focused on the MySpace property being used to swap for Yahoo equity, but those talks have previously broken down over the valuation of MySpace.
But since Microsoft’s hostile takeover bid earlier this month, Yahoo has aggressively pursued other strategic alliances that would keep the company outside of Redmond’s grip.
The Yahoo board formally rejected the Microsoft earlier this week saying it undervalued the company. But Microsoft responded saying it would take all necessary steps to consummate the deal, and is likely to come back with a revised offer.
Meanwhile, TechCrunch is reporting that the first of the “inevitable” lawsuits have started to be filed against Yahoo from shareholders unhappy that the company rejected the Microsoft offer.
The web site reports that more shareholders are expected “to pile on board” legal actions as Yahoo further resists the Microsoft overtures.
For more e-Marketing news, click here.
For more Digital Content news, click here.
