Sun Valley Diary: The Microsoft-Yahoo Guessing Game - Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds -- DealBook - New York Times

"The early verdict? The consensus emerging is that investors may be prepared to take even less than the $33 originally proposed by Microsoft, with some whispering that they might even accept as little as $31.50. And the feeling is that Mr. Icahn would likely to willing to accept. “He just needs a number that starts with a three,” one mogul said of Mr. Icahn, who paid about $25 a share for Yahoo.
But there’s a catch: Everyone seems to agree that Carl Icahn will have a hard time overthrowing Yahoo’s board without a firm commitment from Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer about the price he is willing to pay. “Steve is just toying with Jerry,” one participant said of Mr. Ballmer’s statement on Monday suggesting he would be interested in negotiating a deal – either to buy the entire company or to buy its search business — with a new Icahn-backed board. “It’s a no-lose. He’s creating optionality for himself.”"

Yahoo! re-enters merger talks with Time Warner

Yahoo! re-enters merger talks with Time Warner

Times Online, UK - 8 hours agoThe company has sought to re-open talks after it emerged last week that Microsoft is also in talks with companies such as Time Warner to try to launch a

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Icahn may become known as the bully who saved web democracy

"To the board members of Yahoo, billionaire investor Carl Icahn may seem like the enemy. How else to describe a man who is scooping up shares by the millions, trying to replace the board with his own hand-picked slate and in an open letter called current directors irrational for having 'completely botched' negotiations with Microsoft?
But it's not Yahoo that should consider Carl Icahn the enemy, it's Google.
After all, it was Google that was celebrating last week when the talks broke off between its two biggest rivals, Microsoft and Yahoo. Eric Schmidt, the chief executive of Google, said, 'I'm happy to be crowned winner.' As Yahoo's talks with Microsoft advanced, Google even poisoned the chalice by offering a partnership for search advertising if Yahoo stayed on its own. That allowed Yahoo to drive the asking price beyond Microsoft's comfort level, causing the latter to walk away."

Verify or Claim MSFT YHOO PROXY - MyBlogLog

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"http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/paulson-takes-stake-in-yahoo/"

"Another big investor may become a major player in the showdown at Yahoo.

Paulson & Company, the hedge fund that famously bet against subprime mortgages — and earned billions of dollars in the process — holds 50 million shares in Yahoo, according to a regulatory filing. The fund began building up shares around the time that Microsoft made its unsolicited offer for the company in February, people briefed on the matter told DealBook."

Finally, Microsoft and Yahoo in Merger Talks - Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds -- DealBook - New York Times

Finally, Microsoft and Yahoo in Merger Talks - Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds -- DealBook - New York Times: "After a months-long standoff, Microsoft and Yahoo are in active merger talks, a person involved in the discussions said.

Microsoft, which had threatened to abandon its bid, has increased its offer “by several dollars,” this person said. The merger talks represent an enormous breakthrough following weeks of behind-the-scenes discussions without any progress. Exact terms being discussed could not be learned.

The talks would explain the silence from Microsoft this week as it has refused to disclose its plans, despite threatening to bring a proxy contest if Yahoo didn’t reach a deal with it by last Saturday. Seven days have passed without any announcement from Microsoft about how it intends to proceed.

Still, a person involved in the talks cautioned that they could still be postponed or collapse entirely.

Shares of Yahoo rallied on news of the renewed talks. They were trading at about $28.54 in mid-afternoon, up more than $1.70, or nearly 6.5 percent. Microsoft shares were down more than 1.5 percent."