News Corp. Won’t Go After Yahoo

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has confirmed that News Corp. won't fight Microsoft for control of Yahoo, leaving Yahoo with fewer options to avoid a Microsoft takeover.

In comments at the annual Bear Stearns media conference in Florida, media mogul Rupert Murdoch confirmed his News Corp. will not get in the way of Microsoft’s efforts to take over Internet giant Yahoo. “We’re not going to get into a fight with Microsoft, which has a lot more money than us,” Reuters reports Murdoch told investors.

Industry reports have had Yahoo seeking other partners to fend off an unsolicited $41.4 billion takeover bid from Microsoft Corporation, including both News Corp. and Time Warner/AOL. Yahoo’s board rejected the proposal saying it wasn’t a high enough price, but Microsoft has indicated it does not plan to sweeten the offer. Microsoft has since begun an effort to appoint its own directors to Yahoo’s board and have those directors approve a Microsoft buyout; Yahoo has extended the deadline for its board elections in order to buy itself more time to avoid a takeover. Microsoft maintains its offer is in the best interest of Yahoo’s shareholders; some of them apparently agree, and have sued Yahoo over its snubbing Microsoft’s buyout proposal.

By taking itself out of the running, Yahoo now has one less option to consider to avoid a Microsoft takeover. The company has been holding talks with Time Warner about combining with the company’s AOL internet division, although there has been no report of significant motion toward a deal. The number of companies who can afford to get into a bidding war with Microsoft over Yahoo is very small; reports have also had Yahoo looking to a partnership with Google.