San Francisco (CA) - Yahoo has created a strategic partnership with Google and is reportedly in talks with AOL, while Microsoft may team up with News Corp to launch a new bid to take over Yahoo.
The AP suggests Yahoo's moves are "last-ditch efforts" to prevent an acquisition from Microsoft and is in effect creating a "dramatic finale" in this Internet saga.
In February, Microsoft announced it was looking to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion but Yahoo ultimately declined, saying "our board believes the Microsoft proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo."
One lawsuit, filed by pension fund group Michigan's Wayne County Employees' Retirement Group, claimed that Yahoo executives were "entrenching themselves in office and protecting and advancing their own interests at the expenses of Yahoo and its stockholders while Yahoo's stock price languishes."
"This would make the market far less competitive, in sharp contrast to our own proposal to acquire Yahoo," said Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith.
The situation has become increasingly complex, catapulting Yahoo to the front page of the Internet industry again. It is possible that Microsoft's attempt to buy Yahoo earlier this year could actually backfire and make Yahoo a stronger rival.
Added Smith, "We will assess closely all of our options."
