Yahoo! has for now rejected the offer from Microsoft for a possible acquisition. The latest reports claim that the company is now exploring the possibility of collaborating with News Corp. to avoid getting acquired by Microsoft.

Yahoo! chief executive Jerry Yang spoke in a statement on the efforts being made to keep Yahoo! Independent: “Today, Yahoo is a faster-moving, better-organized, more nimble company than it was just a few months ago. We have redeployed our resources to drive Yahoo’s key strategic priorities — taking important steps to streamline our organization and close down or scale back businesses that don’t support these critical growth initiatives.”

He added that the company is currently well placed to capitalize on “a huge market opportunity.”

Market analysts believe that if they get into a deal with News Corp. they just might get enough ammo in their armor to keep Microsoft away for the time being.

Microsoft on their part has already said that they are going to pursue this deal. They have not yet revealed their next course of action.