Microsoft and Yahoo! Discuss Possible Merger

According to reports in both The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft and Yahoo! have reignited talks to merge together in an effort to combine their forces against Google. After recently getting outbid by Google for online-advertising company DoubleClick, Microsoft is now attempting to make an even bigger splash by acquiring the #1 visited site on the internet.

The New York Post is reporting that the deal could be worth up to $50 billion, which would represent a $12 billion premium over Yahoo!’s current market value. There have been informal talks over the past couple years in regards to a combination, but the latest indications appear to show that Microsoft would like to make them formal.

Yahoo! shares surged $4.36, or 15.47%, on the news, while Microsoft shares were down $0.59, or 1.94%.