It’s no secret that Yahoo is having to battle on multiple fronts and that it has decided to sell off its core internet business. Multiple suitors are said to be interested in the core business, a report claims that Microsoft executives are in early talks with potential Yahoo investors about a contribution towards the acquisition of this company. The talks are said to be in a preliminary stage at this point in time.
Microsoft and Yahoo have worked together for a long time on search and advertising, it’s said that the former is focused on preserving this relationship between the two companies, which is why it’s willing to contribute towards the acquisition of Yahoo’s core internet business.
A person familiar with the situation cited by Reuters claims that private equity firms interested in acquiring Yahoo approached Microsoft regarding a potential contribution. Yahoo is looking to sell off its core internet business which includes main online properties such as mail, search and news.
This isn’t the first time that Microsoft has tried to take a stake in Yahoo. It made a much bigger attempt back in 2008 when led by then-CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft tried to acquire Yahoo for nearly $45 billion. That deal never went through and now Microsoft is in a position to take a stake at peanuts compared to what it was willing to pay for the entire company less than a decade ago.