Google has talked to at least two private-equity firms about potentially helping them finance a deal to buy Yahoo's core business, a person familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. While Google and prospective partners have held early-stage discussions, they haven't put together a formal proposal and Google may end up not pursuing a bid, the paper's source said. It was not known which private-equity firms Google has talked to. An attempt in 2008 to partner with Yahoo! on search services was opposed by US competition authorities. A year later Yahoo signed its search partnership with Microsoft. Microsoft is now considering financing a potential joint bid for Yahoo by extending loans to its deal partners and buying preferred stock in Yahoo, the paper said. The software giant has been in discussions about a potential joint proposal for Yahoo with private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Microsoft isn't seeking full ownership of Yahoo, but rather acting as a financier partly in exchange for being able to retain some influence over Yahoo's future. Under the joint bid currently being discussed, Microsoft wouldn't own common shares, according to a the report. Microsoft's contribution would likely be several billion dollars. Google is interested in selling some advertising across Yahoo's websites, as well as targeting the company's audience with Google services and working more closely with Yahoo's publisher partners. Google's interest in participating in the Yahoo sale discussions could also be partly an attempt to bid up prices to make matters more difficult for competitors such as Microsoft, a source told the paper.
