Yahoo's Secret Acquirer?

Rumors that Microsoft and Yahoo were close to a search deal got firmed up today when the Wall Street Journal reported that former AOL head Jonathan Miller is trying to assemble as much as $31 billion to buy the search company. According to the Journal, Miller hopes to offer as much as $22 a share, which is considerably more than the present stock value. After the Journal's report circulated, Yahoo's stock rose as high as 16 percent, although it's currently hovering around a 6 percent increase over yesterday.

While Miller's interest, which was first reported in the Sunday Times of London, is evident, Microsoft's role in any future Yahoo arrangement remains opaque. Microsoft's share of the search market has been steadily eroded by Google, and teaming up with Yahoo to hold on to their combined 29 percent of the search market seems inevitable. But Microsoft has been awfully coy about any future partnership since Yahoo's Google deal fell apart last month. Moreover, many analysts doubt that Miller can raise $31 billion in the present financial climate.

Still, any interest in Yahoo—which has lost more than half its value in the last few months, watched its Hail Mary Google deal unravel, and faced a chorus of angry investors—has got to be welcome news.