Yahoo Sale May Finally Happen, Say Reports

Microsoft may be vying for a piece of the Yahoo pie once more, it has been reported.

Three years after its unsuccessful bid to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion (£28.2bn), Microsoft has reportedly signed a non-disclosure agreement with the search engine in order to get a closer look at its books. Silver Lake, which was involved in the deal which saw Microsoft acquire Skype, has also signed the agreement, according to anonymous sources talking to Reuters.

Shared custody

reports say Microsoft may not be inclined to buy the whole company, prefering to rather put in a joint bid for Yahoo.

KKR and TPG Capital, private equity firms looking into possible minority stakes of up to 20 percent, have also signed confidentiality agreements with Yahoo, while others, sources say, have balked at the NDA because of restrictions that would prevent them from forming consortia.

Yahoo, stuggling to keep up in recent times, has seen its co-founder, Jerry Yang, deperately trying to maintain control of the company, according to an All Things D report.  The company also fired its CEO, Carol Bartz, in September, with investors later requesting that chairman, Roy Bostock and other board members be fired.

Microsoft, which has a ten year search deal with Yahoo, is not the only company that has shown an interest in the search engine, with companies like Google and the Alibaba Group having made similar buying noises in the past.

According to various reports, the struggling Internet company is unsteady on its feet, and is considering options for its future, which may include auctioning off the company entirely.