AOL trying to buy Yahoo

YAHOL! AOL (or Aol., as it prefers to be called these days) and several private equity firms, including Silver Lake Partners and Blackstone Group, are in talks to possibly buy Yahoo, people familiar with the deal told the Wall Street Journal late Wednesday. Conspicuous in their absence from these talks are representatives from Yahoo, which has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs to help defend it against hostile takeover maneuvers. According to sources, the two private equity firms are among those that expressed interest, though neither commented on any possible deal. Since AOL is worth $2.68 billion—far less than Yahoo’s $20.57 billion market value—the deal would have to involve several partners or scenarios, like an NBA mega-trade. A combined AOL-Yahoo could even pose a challenge to mighty Google, which thus far has dominated online advertising. (10/14a)