Yahoo pushed towards sales deal

The latest round of speculation came about after investment firm and major Yahoo shareholder Ivory Investment Management issued a statement encouraging the company to pursue a search deal with Microsoft.

In the statement, the company said that it felt a sale of Yahoo's search advertising branch could net shareholders a return of as much as $29 per share.

When Microsoft first made public its offer for Yahoo, the company promised $31 per share, though closed-door meetings reportedly yielded offers as high as $40 per share.

As of Thursday afternoon, Yahoo's shares were trading at $12.73.

Shareholders have been pressing Yahoo's board to attempt to strike a deal with Microsoft ever since talks between the two companies first broke down in May.

The shareholder rebellion over the deal reached a boiling point this summer when a takeover attempt by Carl Icahn led to a compromise that shook up the company's board and eventually contributed to chief executive Jerry Yang's ouster.

Since walking away from the table in May, Microsoft has maintained that it was no longer interested in pursuing any sort of deal with Yahoo.

Despite reports that Yahoo shareholders were pushing for new deals, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has repeatedly dismissed any possibility of the two sides rehashing talks any time soon.