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Microsoft reportedly mulling bid for Yahoo

Redmond may be interested in a second run at buying the troubled Internet portal, though this time it may have more competition.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
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  • SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
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Roger Cheng
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Microsoft is considering a second run at Yahoo.

Reuters, citing anonymous sources, reported today that Microsoft is weighing a potential bid for Yahoo, and may enlist a partner to help close the deal. Yahoo investors welcomed the report, sending shares up $1.46, or more than 10 percent, to close at $15.92.

But a bid may not materialize as there are still different factions within Microsoft that disagree on whether the company should acquire Yahoo, Reuters reported.

Microsoft joins a number of companies that are eying Yahoo, which said in an internal memo that it is fielding inquiries from multiple parties, a tacit acknowledgement that it was open to sell.

Related stories:
• Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL to sell one another's ads
• Could Yahoo be acquired by Alibaba?
• BNET: Microsoft takes another look at Yahoo in the bargain basement

The potential acquirers range from Chinese Internet company Alibaba to a number of private equity firms such as Silverlake Partners and venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz.

This would be a renewed attempt by Microsoft, which in February 2008 made an offer to Yahoo, only to be rebuffed by management and founder Jerry Yang in a protracted corporate soap opera. By July 2009, the two companies made nice in a lesser deal that put Yahoo search in Microsoft's hands.

Microsoft has shown a recent willingness to spend big on acquisitions, including its $8.5 billion purchase of Skype in May and the $6 billion takeover of advertising software provider Aquantive in 2007.

In September, Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL said they would be joining forces in a combined ad sales effort.

Updated at 3:40 p.m. with closing stock price.