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November 6, 2008 3:58 PM

Microsoft still not interested in acquiring Yahoo

Posted by Benjamin J. Romano

Despite Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang's assertion that buying Yahoo is "the best thing for Microsoft to do," Microsoft doesn't see it that way.

A company spokesman told Bloomberg News today that there are no talks between the companies and that the official statement it issued on the matter in mid-October remains the official position. To review: "Microsoft has no interest in acquiring Yahoo!; there are no discussions between the companies."

That statement was issued after Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made comments that were widely misinterpreted as an indication that he was again interested in buying Yahoo. Ballmer said at the time that a search deal between the companies still made sense. Here's what he said at the time about a full acquisition:

"It's clear that the Yahoo --- that Yahoo did not want to sell the company. It didn't want to sell when we offered $33. If they thought the company was worth more than $33 six months ago, they probably still think it's worth at least $33 today and so, I think what we learned through that is look, they want to remain independent."

And here's the full Jerry Yang quote from last night, after his company's search advertising deal with Google collapsed, courtesy of CNET:

"To this day, I have to say that the best thing for Microsoft to do is to buy Yahoo. I don't think that is a bad idea at all ... at the right price, whatever the price is, we are willing to sell the company. We were ready to negotiate, we wanted to negotiate a deal, and we felt that we weren't that far apart. But at the end of the day, they withdrew and they since have been very clear about not wanting to buy the company."

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