Microsoft still seen with a win
— -- Many Wall Street analysts remain confident that Microsoft fully intends to consummate the merger with Yahoo — even after a flurry of reports that AOL and News Corp. have once again entered the fray.
The development emerged just a few hours after Yahoo had announced a new advertising test with rival Google.
The potential Yahoo-AOL alliance involves a complicated cash-and-shares exchange with Time Warner, which has been looking to sell AOL, says Khan.
Microsoft, Yahoo and News Corp. declined to comment.
Still, the wheeling and dealing underscores rising pressure from shareholders for some sort of resolution. "Microsoft was hoping that Yahoo would quietly agree," says Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. "But everyone underestimated the resolve of Yahoo. "
The intent of the Microsoft-News Corp. leak may be simply to highlight that News Corp. is no longer a potential Yahoo white knight, says Matt Rosoff, analyst at Directions on Microsoft.
