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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Another Run at Yahoo!?

FOXBusiness

In the latest twist between the two companies, Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer reopened the door to a possible acquisition of Yahoo! (YHOO) on Thursday.

“I still think it [an acquisition] would make sense economically for their shareholders and ours,” Ballmer said at a conference in Orlando, Fla, according to MarketWatch.

The news sent shares of Yahoo! soaring on Thursday and also gave a boost to other tech stocks.

However, a Microsoft spokesperson released a statement later on Thursday downplaying the comments.

“Our position hasn’t changed. Microsoft has no interest in acquiring Yahoo!; there are no discussions between the companies," the spokesperson said.

Talks between the two companies fell apart in May after Yahoo! repeatedly rebuffed Microsoft’s $33-a-share offer, saying it substantially undervalued the company.

Since that time, Yahoo’s shares have plunged more than 50%, hitting a 52-week low of $11.37 on Thursday ahead of Ballmer’s comments.

Yahoo’s executives “probably still think it’s worth at least as much today,” Ballmer said at the conference while laughing, according to MarketWatch.

The new drama surrounding Yahoo! comes less than a month after Microsoft released plans to repurchase $40 billion of its stock and increase its dividend. That move led to speculation Microsoft was done with its attempts to buy Yahoo! or another company to build its Internet business.