- For Many in US, It Will Be a Scaled-Down Holiday Season
- New-Home Sales Jump to Highest Level in Over Year
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- US Bonds Pare Losses After 7-Year Auction
- Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- Activision Prepares to Double Dip on ‘Modern Warfare 2’
- Airlines Hit With Penalties for Stranding Passengers
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- 4 Food Stocks to Stuff in Your Portfolio: Analyst
- S&P at 1050-1200 Trading Range Next Year: Strategist
- Treasury On Mortgage Modifications
- Blue Jeans Expected to See Another Green Christmas
MOST SHARED
- Ritz-Carlton ?Struggling? in the US: President
- Garlic Price Rises Surpass Gold, Stocks in China
- New-Home Sales Jump 6.2% To Highest Level in Over Year
- Half of Banks' Losses May Still Be Hidden: IMF Head
- Oil Price to Average $75.40 in 2010: Poll
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Americans Ditch Planes for Trains this Thanksgiving
- Consumer Mood Improves, But Anxiety Over Personal Finances
- Jobless Claims Below 500,000, Durable Orders Slip
Text Size 
Yahoo may be ripe for an activist play that forces the company to explore strategic alternatives.
While it still remains in the realm of the speculative, bankers, activist investors and media executives have told CNBC that Yahoo may be pushed to explore alternatives, and if that were to occur, the belief is that Yahoo would find interested parties in News Corp., AT&T, TimeWarner's AOL, Microsoft and Comcast.
In fact, one idea that News Corp. has been studying, according to sources, would involve the sale of its MySpace division to Yahoo for a significant stake in the company.
Bankers believe MySpace could be worth as much as $10 billion in such a deal, meaning News Corp. might be able to have as much as a 25% stake in Yahoo. The deal, which again is in its early stages, would also involve Yahoo outsourcing its search to Google, which currently plays that role for MySpace. News Corp. officials declined comment and its unclear whether News Corp has yet to broach the idea with Yahoo.
A similar idea has come up in meetings investors have had recently with TimeWarner CEO Dick Parsons. Parsons has responded to speculative questions about an AOL/Yahoo linkup by saying such a combination could make sense, whereby search was taken over by Google, for a significant fee and Panama sold to Microsoft.
A TimeWarner spokesman offered no comment on potential dealmaking and said the company remains committed to AOL.
Beyond News Crop and AOL, there is also continued interest from Microsoft and the possibility that companies such as AT&T and even Comcast would be inclined to look at a Yahoo deal should the company explore such options.
All of this, of course, is speculative. But Allen & Co.'s Sun Valley conference is coming up soon and given the CEOs of virtually all these companies will be in attendance, a Yahoo deal might be a topic for discussion.
And finally, there is the distinct possibility that large activist shareholders get loud. As one of them said to CNBC on Friday: "If it's not us, someone will put their fee to the fire."
Print
Email
- Eric Schmidt pledges to create a virtual copy of the Iraq National Museum at Google’s expense.
- Here's how key provisions of the health care reform bill would impact your insurance and how you'll pay for it.
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- After nine years the NBA’s minor league equivalent is finally coming into its own.
- Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
- For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes