Yahoo! restructuring on the way

According to a leaked memo that went out on Friday, Yahoo's new CEO, Carol Bartz, might be launching a major restructuring of the company this week.

Yahoo! spent much of 2008 dealing with various takeover and merger attempts. Although the company has talked with Google, News Corp, and AOL, its most persistent suitor has been Microsoft, which has been seeking a merger since 2005. In 2008, these discussions became particularly heated, with Yahoo! accusing Microsoft of massively undervaluing the company, and Microsoft threatening to approach shareholders directly in the hopes of electing a new board. In May 2008, amid threats of a "poison pill" gambit, Microsoft withdrew from takeover discussions. However, earlier last month, Microsoft took another run at the company in a plan that would essentially give them control of Yahoo's search and search marketing products.