Sinking shares could make Yahoo a target again (AP)

When Yahoo Inc. co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang spurned Microsoft Corp.’s rich buyout offer this spring, he promised brighter days in Sunnyvale were just over the horizon.

Now the market collapse has helped drive Yahoo’s value to a fraction of what Microsoft originally bid. If Microsoft — or another buyer — were to float a new offer, the acquisition would come much cheaper, and Yahoo would likely be under even greater pressure to take it.

Matt Rosoff, an analyst for the independent research group Directions on Microsoft, said Microsoft is much less likely to bid for all of Yahoo this time. Its search engine, No. 2 to Google Inc.’s, would likely be Microsoft’s target.

Rosoff said Yahoo’s pummeled stock price leaves time on Microsoft’s side. The company can afford to throw money into its own Internet search operations and swoop in when Yahoo is finally strapped.

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