Rupert Murdoch “could bid for Yahoo!”

Posted by Patrick Smith on 14 February 2008 at 08:38
Tags: Journalism

News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch could make a bid for internet company Yahoo! according to several press reports today.

The Daily Telegraph reports that News Corp is discussing merging its MySpace social networking website and “other websites” into Yahoo!’s online properties as part of a deal to control 20 per cent of the company.

Previously, the septuagenarian press baron had ruled himself out of the race for Yahoo! entirely. Something seems to have changed his mind.

The deal, in conjunction with an unnamed private equity partner, could fend off a £22.7 billion bid from Microsoft.

The Telegraph’s Juliette Garside notes that “Yahoo! would provide News Corporation with a powerful method of distributing its immense news output over an already well-established news brand online.”

The Guardian warns that
Yahoo! may have to “surrender the search battle” by contracting its search facilities to Google under the deal.

Tags: Journalism