Microsoft, Yahoo! circling AOL for acquisition

By Stephen Withers
Thursday, 17 July 2008 08:03

Strategy

The fracas over the proposed Microsoft and Yahoo! merger just got a whole lot more interesting with a willing AOL coming to the table for an acquisition or merger. Both Microsoft and Yahoo! are keen to boost their position in the Internet advertising market, something which AOL could provide.

At least that's what reports from the US are claiming, pointing to either an outright sale to Microsoft, or a merger with Yahoo! that would see Time Warner holding a minority stake in the enlarged company.

Since February, Microsoft has been trying to acquire Yahoo!, or at least its search business, but various proposals from either side have been knocked back by the other.

The negotiations have become increasingly scrappy, with words including "ludicrous" and "erratic" coming from Google, and Microsoft alleging "inaccuracies" in Yahoo! statements and that its target had "mischaracterized" Microsoft's position.

Yahoo!'s annual meeting will give shareholders the chance to replace the current board (which favours only a full sale at $US33 per share) with a slate led by Carl Icahn, who supports selling just the search business to Microsoft.

Reports suggest that Time Warner is keen to hive off AOL prior to the Yahoo! annual meeting, while there are still two potential buyers.

In addition to delivering a significant share of the online advertising market, AOL would provide Yahoo! or Microsoft with a worthwhile amount of web traffic.

What else could AOL offer the potential buyers? See page 2.