Yahoo and Microsoft: It’s not over till the fat lady sings

And you thought a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo was over and done with?
Not so fast.
Microsoft has signalled that it is willing to sweeten its previous offer for a partial buyout of Yahoo’s search business, according to one major investor who has been in contact with both parties.
Neither Microsoft nor Yahoo had immediate comment.
After the termination of discussions with Microsoft less than two weeks ago, Yahoo’s board said in a statement that a sale leaving the company without an independent search business “would not be in the best interests of Yahoo stockholders.”

But the source noted that several of Yahoo’s nine board members, including its chairman, Roy Bostock, have since indicated a willingness to hold further discussions with Microsoft on a possible deal to sell the search operations.
“When Microsoft made its offer to acquire Yahoo’s search business, Yahoo rejected the offer outright. There was no negotiating beyond the ($9 billion offer) Microsoft was offering,” the source said.
After the Microsoft negotiations collapsed, Yahoo struck a search advertising outsourcing deal with Google. But that hasn’t impressed shareholders. Shares of Yahoo, which traded at $23.52 the day of the Google announcement, closed at $21.45 on Monday.
Meanwhile, rumours of an impending Yahoo reorganisation–a big one that could come as early as this week–continue to swirl.
Investors clamouring for change have pointed to the approximately 35 percent decline in Yahoo’s share price since Microsoft’s $33 per share offer to acquire all of Yahoo. Microsoft withdrew that offer in May after failing to get a “yes” from Yahoo. Shares of Yahoo are now within hailing distance of the $19 per share trading level they hovered at prior to Microsoft’s unsolicited bid in February.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9975467-7.html