Report: Microsoft Again May Be in Talks with Yahoo

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- The on-again, off-again deal between Microsoft and Sunnyvale-based Yahoo may be on again, according to the U.K.'s Times Online. The web site reported that Microsoft is once again in talks to acquire Yahoo's search business for $20 billion,. Under the reported terms, Microsoft would invest $5 billion in the new search division, to be led by former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller and former Fox Interactive Media president Ross Levinsohn. Miller and Levinsohn, founders of Velocity Interactive Group, would then match Microsoft's $5 billion with backing from external investors. Microsoft would retain the right to buy the unit -- which would hold an approximate 30% stake in Yahoo -- for $20 billion after two years. Levinsohn, however, told VentureBeat that there is "no truth" to the report, while Yahoo declined to comment.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article5258258.ece http://venturebeat.com/2008/11/29/a-new-elaborate-20-billion-deal-for-microsoft-to-buy-yahoo-search/