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By Jessica Hodgson and Scott Morrison
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ-NMS:YHOO) (YHOO) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ-NMS:MSFT) (MSFT) aren't discussing a full acquisition of Yahoo (NASDAQ-NMS:YHOO) , people familiar with the companies said Tuesday, after the Internet giant's stock popped because of growing speculation the companies may revisit proposals to combine some of their search operations.
Yahoo's (NASDAQ-NMS:YHOO) stock jumped as much as 8% after the Web site TechCrunch reported the two companies had started a third round of discussions, this time for a full buyout of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo (NASDAQ-NMS:YHOO) .
People familiar with the companies' thinking refuted the reports of talks aimed at a full takeover, but indicated the companies might be open to alternative transactions. Microsoft (NASDAQ-NMS:MSFT) has said it remains open to a deal involving Yahoo's (NASDAQ-NMS:YHOO) search operations, although Yahoo (NASDAQ-NMS:YHOO) earlier had rejected a similar arrangement. It wasn't immediately apparent whether such talks were occurring.
Yahoo (NASDAQ-NMS:YHOO) and Microsoft (NASDAQ-NMS:MSFT) officials declined to comment.
Microsoft (NASDAQ-NMS:MSFT) in February launched an unsolicited $31-a-share offer for Yahoo (NASDAQ-NMS:YHOO) , but talks fell apart over price. They subsequently resumed talks around an alternative transaction involving Yahoo's (NASDAQ-NMS:YHOO) Internet search operations, but those talks also ended without agreement.
Rumors that talks may be continuing come as Yahoo (NASDAQ-NMS:YHOO) prepares to announce a major overhaul of its management structure, one designed to plug gaping holes left after the departure of several high-level executive over the past several weeks. Blog posts seem to suggest that Yahoo President Sue Decker could emerge as chief executive, while founder and current CEO Jerry Yang could become chairman.
But skeptics noted that the new management structure, which could be unveiled as early as this week, would be the third such reshuffling at Yahoo (NASDAQ-NMS:YHOO) over the past 18 months and would likely do little to improve the company's ability to tackle the challenges at hand.
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