Former AOL chief trying to raise money to buy out Yahoo

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-03 21:23

LOS ANGELES -- Former AOL chief Jonathan F. Miller is trying to raise money to buy out Yahoo, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Miller, who now runs the Velocity Interactive Group, a private equity firm, has been trying to raise money "for months," either from private equity sources or sovereign wealth funds, the report said.

For a deal at US$20 to 22 per share, Miller would have to raise about US$28 billion, the Journal said. That would be a big hurdle when credit is tight and even sovereign wealth funds are curbing their activities.

Yahoo said it would not comment on rumors, and AOL did not respond to a request for comment.

News of the takeover bid prompted Yahoo's stock to jump 12.5 percent to more than 12 dollars per share, before it gave up some of the gain later in the day.

Yahoo's stock has fallen on troubled times since the internet giant spurned a US$33-a-share buyout offer from Microsoft earlier this year. After that, the stock slid 60 percent.