Posted May 29, 2008 09:54am EDT
by Aaron Task in Investing, Internet, Newsmakers, Venture Capital, M and A, IPOs
At the All Things D conference Wednesday night, Jerry Yang reiterated what Steve Ballmer said the night before: Yahoo and Microsoft are talking, but not about an all-out acquisition of Tech Ticker's parent.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports "people close to Yahoo" would "likely entertain an offer" in the mid-$30s range, suggesting the two sides are tantalizingly close to Microsoft's since-pulled $33 bid.
A full buyout is ultimately the most likely outcome, says Dan Colarusso, managing editor of Portfolio.com, but Ballmer is likely to wait a little longer to ratchet up the pressure on Yahoo's board.
Speaking of which, the Journal also says Carl Icahn would prefer Yahoo do an outsourcing deal with Google vs. an alternative transaction with Microsoft.
Colarusso believes this is merely a ploy by Icahn to let Ballmer know the famed corporate raider also has options, even if he's pretty much placed all his chips on a Microsoft-Yahoo deal getting done.
For Yahoo, dealing with Ballmer is better than dealing with Ichan, says Colarusso, but Ballmer needs Yahoo, too, and Portfolio.com provides a roadmap for (finally) getting the deal done.
