Ex-News Corp. boss won't buying Yahoo!

Former News Corp. boss Peter Chernin said Friday he will not rule out buying Yahoo! but suggested the time was not right, amid intense speculation on the future of the struggling US Internet giant. "I won't rule out anything," Chernin told the All Things Digital AsiaD technology conference sponsored by the Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong. "But on the other hand it seems like such a confusing situation right now that it doesn't seem like the right place for investment." Chernin, the former president of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., founded the Chernin Group and Chernin Entertainment after he stepped down in 2009. He was rumoured to be among a number of groups making a bid for Yahoo!. US software giant Microsoft and China's Alibaba Group have also reportedly expressed interest in Yahoo! or its assets. Chernin's comments come a day after Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma urged Yahoo! to make up its mind, saying he was expecting an answer from the US firm within weeks to his long-standing offer to buy all or part of web giant. The Wall Street Journal also reported on Thursday that Microsoft has teamed up with private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for a multi-billion-dollar offer to purchase Yahoo!. The newspaper said at least nine private equity firms are eyeing Yahoo!, which has 700 million monthly visitors to its various websites, including Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance and Yahoo! Sports. Once seen as the Internet's leading light, Yahoo! has struggled to build a strongly profitable, growing business out of its huge web presence and global audience.