Yahoo Out Of Bidding To Buy AOL: Reports

Yahoo has pulled out of the bidding to buy a stake in America Online (AOL), according to reports in the Wall Street Journal and the Reuters News Agency.

"After we learned what their proposed deal terms were we passed and we've never looked back," a Yahoo spokeswoman told Reuters on Thursday. The spokeswoman said that Yahoo had not made an offer to buy AOL, but added that Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel and Time Warner chairman Richard Parsons met in October.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Time Warner told Yahoo that it was not interested in the terms offered by Yahoo for the sale.

Time Warner is still in talks with Google and Microsoft. The Wall Street Journal said that Time Warner will likely choose one partner with which to start exclusive negotiations, possibly as early as next week.

The paper said that an AOL deal with Microsoft would most likely be a small-scale partnership, rather than a full-blown joint venture.The Journal also said that Google would be willing to buy a minority stake in AOL, which would include AOL's fading dial-up business. It added that Comcast might join with Google to buy a minority stake.