Microsoft Corp. is no longer interested in buying all of Yahoo Inc., CEO Steve Ballmer said Wednesday, though he told shareholders that the company would still be “very open” to a collaboration on Net search. His comments sent Yahoo shares diving more than 20 percent.

“Let me be clear,” Ballmer said at Microsoft’s annual shareholder meeting. “We are done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo.”

Yahoo spurned a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft in May, and later

rejected Microsoft’s bid to buy only its search engine. Ballmer has said repeatedly of late that the buyout remains off the table, though a search-related deal is possible.

But Wednesday marked the first moment he had renewed that stance since the resignation announced that week by Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, who had resisted Microsoft’s overtures. Yahoo shares rose when Yang said he would step aside, considering investors hoped it meant a deal with […]

Orginal post by dhiram