Yahoo is definitely in play and we are likely to see a takeover happening soon. The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is looking to bring in some private equity to buy Yahoo which is weighing up its strategic options after firing former Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz, in part for her failure to keep pace with Google in the online advertising market.
The talks are early-stage and no formal proposal has been worked out. Indeed, Google might decide not to buy it and it's not clear which private equity firms are involved.
Nonetheless, the idea of the currently reigning search giant buying the deposed search giant is intriguing. Good luck getting that one past the regulators!
Then again, you can't rule out Microsoft. As reported here, Microsoft executives are looking to buy Yahoo. Add to that speculation about Chinese Internet company Alibaba. Alibaba's Jack Ma has been dropping hints but then, he would run into trouble because of American laws.
Still, it looks like a takeover is inevitable, and that spells disaster.
There has been some talk around the traps that the company could be worth $16 to $18 a share, or about $20 billion. That's a lot to pay for an outfit that can't make money. The question is who will be the buyer. And it won't be easy for them because Yahoo has struggled to build a profitable business out of its huge Web presence and global audience. Watch this space.
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