It looks as if Microsoft wants a seat at the negotiating table if Yahoo decides to sell part or all of its business.
To gain better access, Microsoft has signed a non-disclosure agreement with Yahoo, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The DealReporter and The New York Times earlier reported the arrangement between Microsoft and Yahoo.
Yahoo's board has been mulling the company's options since firing CEO Carol Bartz in early September. The alternatives include selling Yahoo's Asian assets, such as the Alibaba Group in China, and auctioning off the company in its entirety instead of hiring a new CEO. Tim Morse, Yahoo's chief financial officer, has been interim CEO since Bartz's ouster.
The DealReporter said that Yahoo's board is scheduled to meet next week to discuss its next step.
Microsoft unsuccessfully tried to buy Yahoo in 2008 for as much as 47.5 billion dollars before walking away in frustration. Yahoo's stock is worth less than half of Microsoft's last offer of 33 dollars per share.
Yahoo shares fell three cents on Wednesday to close at 14.94 dollars. Microsoft's stock price dropped 32 cents to close at 24.47 dollars.
The New York Times reported that Microsoft is primarily interested in protecting its internet search advertising alliance with Yahoo if its partner pursues a sale or a dramatic reorganisation. Microsoft currently provides most of the search technology on Yahoo's website in return for 12% of the ad revenue generated from the results.
To preserve its business relationship with Yahoo, Microsoft already had explored contributing to a joint bid for Yahoo's US assets with some of the buyout firms that have been considering making offers. That list includes Silver Lake Partners, Providence Equity Partners and the Texas Pacific Group.
Alibaba CEO Jack Ma has publicly acknowledged that his company would like to buy Yahoo, but that could be difficult because of US government concerns about a Chinese business owning a US company that handles email and other electronic communications.
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