Microsoft and Yahoo Deal Imminent

Microsoft might be relaying lackluster earnings this Thursday, but no one really wants to talk about that.

Instead everybody is preparing for a Yahoo/Microsoft deal to be announced. The deal would involve Microsoft paying Yahoo several billion dollars upfront to take over its search advertising business and guarantee certain payments back to Yahoo. Investor Carl Icahn this weekend said “I’ve been a strong advocate of getting a search deal done with Microsoft.” Icahn owns a 5 percent stake in Yahoo and was named to its board last year.

Google is the dominant search engine in the world, with 65 percent of the market. Yahoo lags with 20 percent and Microsoft trails in third with 8.4 percent. There is now a feeling that a deal will be announced before Thursday.

”The sooner these two decide to bring the best of what they both have together and then jointly go after the market, the more it will benefit both,” told Reuters.