AOL Money & Finance

yahoo-google posts

Feed

Yahoo tanks on dead Microsoft deal. What will Icahn say?

Businesswire reports that Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) have officially ended their discussions about any kind of partnership. Yahoo stock is down 11%.

According to Yahoo: "Microsoft is not interested in pursuing an acquisition of all of Yahoo!, even at the price range it had previously suggested. With respect to an acquisition of Yahoo!'s search business alone that Microsoft had proposed, Yahoo!'s Board of Directors rejected it for three reasons:

  • Such a transaction would not be consistent with the company's view of the converging search and display marketplaces,
  • Would leave the company without an independent search business that it views as critical to its strategic future, and
  • Would not be in the best interests of Yahoo! stockholders.

Expect more loud squawking noises from Carl Icahn to follow. Cover your ears!

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Yahoo! announcement sparks Google deal rumors

A joint announcement by Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Google Inc. (NYSE: GOOG) scheduled for 1:30 p.m. PDT today, after market close, has rumor-mongers wondering whether the two will be announcing a big deal. Yahoo! has been on the block for so long that even the slightest breeze of news has everyone guessing; this morning, Doug McIntyre wrote that short interest was increasing as pessimists pooh-poohed Carl Icahn's plans.

Michael Arrington at TechCrunch says his sources are insisting it's only a search partnership, a deal that would probably have far less impact on the fate of Yahoo! -- it may signal more things to come, but let's recall that a "global advertising partnership" deal between Google and Time Warner, Inc. (NYSE: TWX)'s AOL in December 2005, in which Google purchased 5% of the internet company, never (yet) materialized into the acquisition many expected.

No major news outlet has the story yet, and there is no announcement on Yahoo!'s investor relations page. After falling 80 cents today, the stock was rebounding quickly on the rumors, at $25.97 at 2:10 p.m.

Update 6:21 p.m.:
Microsoft has pulled its $33 per share offer for Yahoo!, and Yahoo! has announced a search advertising partnership with Google. Yahoo!'s stock ended the day down $3.34, or 12.77%, at $22.81.

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+30.6910,464.40
NASDAQ+6.872,176.05
S&P 500+4.981,110.63

Last updated: November 26, 2009: 07:00 PM

BloggingStocks Exclusives

Hot Stocks

DailyFinance Headlines

Latest from BloggingBuyouts

WalletPop Headlines

AOL Business News

BioHealth Investor Headlines

Sponsored Links

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance