• The New York Post, Wednesday, December 3, 2008 11:15 AM

Yahoo shares jumped 16% following a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday claiming that ex-AOL Chief Jonathan Miller was trying to raise money to buy all or part of Yahoo in his bid to become the company's next CEO. However, a New York Post report this morning claims that while Miller is indeed looking to raise money, he's not looking to do so in order to buy Yahoo.

The Post report cites two sources close to Miller who say he actively looking for funding for his Velocity Interactive Group, the investment firm he jointly runs with former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn. A third source claims that Yahoo talks have taken place, but have never moved beyond "idle chatter." According to the source, "The chances of a deal with Miller succeeding are extremely low."

Even after it was reported that the deal proposed in the Journal was a longshot, Yahoo shares still ended the day up 7.1%. The Post notes there are "myriad obstacles" standing in the way of a Miller-Yahoo acquisition, not the least of which is raising enough money -- Yahoo's market cap is around $16 billion -- in an otherwise frozen credit market. "The bank debt required to get a deal done of this size is prohibitively expensive even if you could find it in this market," said Soleil-Media Metrics analyst Laura Martin.

Read the whole story at The New York Post »