Yahoo shares rose four percent Friday amid speculation that it will partner up with Microsoft in an effort to challenge search engine giant Google, reports The Washington Post.
Yahoo and Microsoft could announce a deal as early as next week, as Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said her company will join forces only if the price is right.
The alliance was first proposed in 2006, but Yahoo’s two previous CEOs, Terry Semel and Jerry Yang—could not seal the deal.
Analysts believe that should this round of talks be successful, Yahoo will receive a lumps sum of cash and billions of dollars in guaranteed payments spread over years while reaping annual savings of at least $500 million from not having to run its own search engine.
Yahoo’s search engine currently holds a nearly 20 percent share of the U.S. search market, trailing to Google’s steadfast 65 percent.