Yahoo stock spiked by up to 5% yesterday on speculation that several companies are eyeing the search and advertising firm as an acquisition target.
Sources with knowledge of the negotiation have been talking up fresh acquisition activity. They claimed to the New York Post that private equity firm KKR is considering arranging a bid to take the company private.
Any bid would need to be in the region of $25 billion for Yahoo to consider accepting, the sources said.
But AOL has not abandoned its own attempt to merge with Yahoo, and has approached Bank of America to discuss strategic options, insiders toldReuters.
Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba is meanwhile rumored to be seeking to buy back the 40% stake in itself that Yahoo currently owns, and has been negotiating with private equity firms over funding.
It is not clear whether the Alibaba negotiations are related to either of the prospective takeover offers.