Could Yahoo Be Eyeing Time Warner After Rejecting Microsoft Bid?

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace )-- Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) may have rejected Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid, but that doesn’t mean that another strategic partnership is out of the question, namely with Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX).

Claiming that Microsoft’s offer “substantially undervalues” Yahoo, the company is left with the opportunity to negotiate a better deal out of Microsoft or even another interested party. Insiders say that Yahoo may have reached out to Time Warner's AOL unit, a rumor that has yet to be confirmed by either company.

NewsVisual illustrated the connections to Time Warner that could help Yahoo land a deal with the creation of an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map. A number of direct connections combined with current relationships through common entities could soon lead to a partnership between Yahoo and Time Warner.

Perhaps the strongest connection linking Yahoo and Time Warner runs through KB Home, where Yahoo Director Ronald W Burkle is a Director along with Stephen F Bollenbach, a Director at Time Warner. Bollenbach may also be in contact with Yahoo Director Gary L Wilson, as both were previously corporate executives at Disney during overlapping years.

Yahoo Chairman Roy J Bostock and Time Warner Director Michael A Miles may be acquainted through ties to Morgan Stanley. Miles, a long time Director of Morgan Stanley since 1994, left the Board in 2005, the same year that Bostock joined as a Director. It is possible that the two had the opportunity to interact and network with each other during the exchange.

A notable direct connection between the companies is also present and illustrated on the Knowledge Map: Terry Semel, the recently ousted head of Yahoo, was previously the Chairman/CEO of Warner Bros, a division of Time Warner.

If Yahoo really does have its sights set on partnering with Time Warner, it is likely that the company will use whatever means available, including the connections to its senior executives, to secure a deal to rival that of Microsoft’s.

Click here or copy this link into your Internet Explorer browser for an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map: http://nv.intellectspace.com/ispace/GuestMonitor.aspx?id=69f0c8d2-2713-429e-a851-3239538828e8

See article from The Wall Street Journal