AOL buying Yahoo?

According to WSJ.com AOL may be looking to acquire Yahoo (whatever is left of Yahoo at this point).  AOL is on the acquisition trail.  Last week they made a small deal/big move in acquiring Techcrunch (Michael Arrington is reported to be staying on, $$).  There seems to be a ton of faith in AOL’s CEO, Tim Armstrong.  Private Equity is behind him.  Perhaps AOL can really become the content behemoth that Terry Semel dreamed of.  Terry was early (and according to former employees, not too engaged).

Yahoo has a massive user base via its Yahoo mail, Flickr photo sharing sites and many other properties. Exposing those users to some of the unique content created by the AOL owned sites such as Engadget and Techcrunch could provide some synergy (AHHH, not that word).  The idea behind “synergy” is what got Time Warner into the whole AOL mess back in the day.

AOL Inc. and several private-equity firms are exploring making an offer to buy Yahoo Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, devising a bold plan to marry two big Internet brands facing steep challenges.AOL and private-equity firms are exploring a bid for Yahoo, devising plans to marry two big Internet brands that both face steep challenges. The discussions are preliminary and dont include Yahoo. Jessica Vascellaro discusses. Also, John McKinnon discusses the Estate Tax as it grows as a hot-button election issue.Silver Lake Partners and Blackstone Group LP are among the firms that have expressed interest in teaming up with AOL to buy Yahoo or trying to take it private on their own, these people said. They added that at least two or three other firms could be interested in participating if a formal buyout proposal is drawn up.

via AOL, Private-Equity Firms Explore Bid for Yahoo – WSJ.com.