Ballmer "not interested" in new Yahoo deal

 

Gallery

By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 7 Nov 2008 at 09:30

Microsoft is "not interested" in making another offer for Yahoo, says chief executive Steve Ballmer.

"Look, we made an offer; we made another offer. It was clear that Yahoo didn't want to sell the business to us, and we moved on," said Ballmer during a speech this week. "We are not interested in going back and re-looking at an acquisition. I don't know why they would be either, frankly."

Despite this assertion, Yahoo has already admitted it would be open to an offer should one be made.

"To this day, I have to say that the best thing for Microsoft to do is to buy Yahoo. I don't think that is a bad idea at all...at the right price, whatever the price is, we are willing to sell the company," said chief executive Jerry Yang earlier this week.

Yahoo stock surged in price earlier this week when it was rumoured that a new deal may be on the cards, and that Yang could be stepping down from his role at the helm of the search company. However, stock is currently sitting below $15, less than half of what Microsoft offered just months ago when it bid $33 per share.

Such a deal now looks increasingly unlikely, with Ballmer's comments perhaps the final nail in the coffin of a deal that has been rumoured for years.

"They turned us down at $33 a share; move on," said Ballmer.