By now you'd figure there would be some clarity about how the Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) - Microsoft (NASDAQ::MSFT) saga is going to play out. After all, it's been more than three months since Yahoo! first said "thanks but no thanks" to Microsoft and its $31 a share, or $44.6 billion, acquisition offer. But noooo, and each day it seems there's another piece of information that must be dissected and analyzed.
Today's tidbit of news comes from Israel, where Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told reporters the company is not looking to acquire all of Yahoo!, but instead is "trying to have discussions about deals with Yahoo! that might create value...." It's not a whole lot different than what Microsoft disclosed on Sunday, though it does give more ammunition to those who believe the software maker is no longer interested in pursuing an outright acquisition with Yahoo! at the moment.
Adding to the uncertainty is that Yahoo! continues to talk about alternative deals with everyone from AOL to MySpace to rival Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). Meanwhile, corporate rabble rouser Carl Icahn is busy lining up shareholders to oust Yahoo! board of directors, though it appears as though Icahn will have difficulty getting rank-and-file shareholders on board if they don't have a reason to believe Microsoft wants to come back to the bargaining table and revive acquisition talks.Continue reading at TechConfidential.com.
