Report: Former AOL chief exec tries to raise funds to buy Yahoo

Miller said to be meeting with private equity investors to finance deal
Jonathan Miller, the well-respected former chief executive of AOL, has been talking for months to potential investors interested in buying all or part of Yahoo Inc., The Wall Street Journal reported today.

Miller, who was abruptly ousted at AOL in 2006 after leading a highly complex and, at the time, initially successful turnaround, has met with private equity investors and sovereign wealth funds to craft an offer of $20 to $22 per share for Yahoo, the Journal reported.

However, it's unclear if talks regarding the deal, which would be worth between $28 billion and $30 billion, have progressed or are continuing, the Journal reported, citing anonymous sources.

It's also unclear whether Miller has managed to involve Microsoft Corp., which tried for three months to buy Yahoo before walking away in early May when it couldn't agree on a price with Yahoo's board.

Miller's chances of raising enough money to put together an offer are low, given the economic woes that have made banks less likely to lend money and investors less willing to open their wallets, the Journal said.

Making the investment even riskier are Yahoo's ongoing corporate turmoil and its financial and technical struggles, whose latest chapter was the announcement in mid-November that co-founder Jerry Yang plans to step down as CEO.

There has been much speculation that Yahoo may be acquired now that its stock has lost so much of its value in recent months. The company's stock price had hit a 52-week high of $30.25 per share earlier in the year, but it has been much lower lately, opening today at $10.81 on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The stock price rose after the Journal story appeared, hitting $12.50, but it had fallen to $11.35 at around 2:30 p.m. Eastern time.

In comparison, Yahoo's stock closed at $19.18 on Jan. 31, right before Microsoft announced its first acquisition offer for $44.6 billion, a 62% premium. Due to investors' enthusiasm over the acquisition attempt, Yahoo's stock later rose to almost $30 per share, only to deflate after Microsoft withdrew its offer in May.

A spokeswoman for Velocity Interactive Group, an investment firm focused on digital media and communications where Miller is a partner, said the company didn't have an immediate comment about the Journal article.

Yahoo spokeswoman Kim Rubey declined to comment, citing the company's policy not to comment on rumors or speculation.

IDG