Microsoft Willing to Assist Yahoo Buyers with Big Cash

Microsoft is telling investors it will back bids for Yahoo so long as the company can maintain a positive relationship with the firm, reports Re/code. The report says Yahoo's board is looking to get at least $10 billion for its core Internet business.

According to reports by Re/code various sources, Microsoft execs have been discussing with private equity firms mulling over bids to purchase Yahoo and telling investors the company maybe be willing to lend huge financing to their efforts.

However, Microsoft has not made any firm commitments so far to investors, and any discussions are exploratory.

Yahoo is increasingly feeling the pressure from shareholders and investors to sell its main business instead of going through a spinoff that would separate the company from its multibillion-dollar stakes in Yahoo Japan and Alibaba Group.

Yahoo may have lost its ground among many competitors especially to Facebook and Google for last 5 years, however, the website still gets hundreds of millions of visitors, and the company’s email and other services have millions of consistent users and subscribers who would be a valuable addition to a company like Microsoft or AOL.

Amongst this happening, Yahoo is very disappointed with its late performance in the market. “We have been extremely disappointed with Yahoo’s dismal financial performance, poor management execution, egregious compensation and hiring practices, and general lack of accountability,” Starboard CEO Jeffrey Smith wrote in Thursday’s letter.