LOS ANGELES, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- A press report stating that Microsoft has restarted talks to buy Yahoo's search business for 20 billion U.S. dollars "has no basis in fact," the San Francisco Chronicle said on Monday.
The Times of London reported on Sunday that the deal under discussion would put former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller and Ross Levinsohn, a former president of Fox Interactive Media, in charge of Yahoo. The report, which cited no sources, also said executives at both companies had agreed to the broad terms of a deal.
In fact, there are no current talks between the two companies, The Chronicle quoted an executive at one of the firms who requested anonymity as saying.
Furthermore, the 20-billion-dollar price cited in the Times of London article for Yahoo's search business appears questionable given that the market capitalization for all of Yahoo is 16 billion dollars, said The Chronicle.
Yahoo and Microsoft had had on-again, off-again talks over several months earlier this year about a 47.5-billion-dollar takeover, and later a proposal focused only on Yahoo's search business. Discussions regarding both scenarios collapsed without an agreement.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said repeatedly that he is no longer interested in buying all of Yahoo, but that he is open to some sort of partnership involving their respective search businesses.
Brad Williams, a Yahoo spokesman, said Sunday "We don't comment on rumors." Frank Shaw, a Microsoft spokesman, declined to comment.
Yahoo's shares have plummeted since Microsoft withdrew its 33-dollar-a-share acquisition offer earlier this year, eliciting speculation that discussions would eventually resume. Yahoo's shares closed Friday at 11.51 dollars, nearly one-third of the original offer.
