Again and again and again, all the way back to 2008.
Robert Galbraith / Reuters
Andrew Kelly / Reuters
"The past is never dead. It's not even past," wrote William Faulkner, who could have been talking about yet another round of people calling for a merger between Yahoo and AOL.
AOL shares are spiking after activist hedge fund Starbaord Value, famous for its crusade against the management of Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants, wrote a letter to the board of Yahoo saying it should consider a combination with AOL.
The idea is not a new one. Or an original one. The proposed pairing seems to pop nearly ever year, with advisors, company executives, or private equity investors pushing for a deal. The shares of both companies are notoriously sensitive to any rumors or speculation on a merger and have been driven up by just analyst notes saying a deal is a possibility, even if they cite no real news.
Helping fuel the speculation this time are Yahoo's formidable cash reserves — bolstered by their large holdings of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba — as well as the fact that the companies two chiefs, Marissa Mayer at Yahoo and Tim Armstrong, are both veterans of Google. The two companies also are in the same flagging business — general interest web properties with huge traffic numbers supported by display ads.
Here's a complete history of the rumors, which stretch back to at least 2008.
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