Former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller is reportedly in talks to raise up to USD30bn in a bid to buy all or part of Yahoo!. Miller, who is a founding member of VC firm Velocity, has been in discussions with investors for months and aims to make a per-share offer of between USD20 and USD22, according to the Wall Street Journal citing people involved in the talks. This values Yahoo! at USD28bn to USD30bn.
The news comes days after Microsoft was rumoured to have agreed provisional terms to buy Yahoo! Search for approximately USD20bn, as part of a complex agreement that includes an overhaul of Yahoo!'s management team.
While talks between Yahoo! and Miller are described as informal, commentators are sceptical that sufficient funds can be raised in the current economic environment.
Speculation surrounding a Microsoft-Yahoo! deal re-emerged last month after Google pulled out of its planned ad deal with Yahoo!, due to regulatory restrictions. Speaking earlier this month, Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer quashed suggestions that Microsoft would re-bid for Yahoo!, but said it was "very open" to a search ad deal.
Yahoo! turned down a USD44.7bn takeover offer from Microsoft in May. Earlier this month, company founder and CEO Jerry Yang stepped down after months of shareholder pressure.
