Ballmer To Yahoo: Not Interested

CEO Jerry Yang's declaration Wednesday that Microsoft probably should

Speaking at a business lunch in Sydney, Australia, Ballmer told the group that Microsoft has "moved on" and isn't planning to make another bid for Yahoo, Bloomberg reports. Ballmer, however, wouldn't close the door on speculation about forming a partnership with Yahoo over its search capabilities.

"We made an offer, we made another offer ... we moved on," Ballmer said, according to Reuters. "We tried at one point to do a partnership around search ... and that didn't work either, and we moved on and they moved on. We are not interested in going back and relooking at an acquisition. I don't know why they would be either, frankly."

Yahoo, however, is still interested in selling the company and a Yahoo spokesman backed up Yang's assertion that Microsoft should purchase the company.

Ballmer and Microsoft are either playing their cards close to the vest or just aren't interested.

That's bad news for Yahoo, which recently had Google walk away from a potential online advertising deal that could've netted Yang's company between $80 million and $450 million in profit. The proposed pact between the two companies met stiff resistance from advertising agencies and federal regulators who feared competition might be hindered.

Rather than get slogged down in regulatory matters, Google decided to walk away, preferring to focus on "innovation."

Yang may feel like he has egg on his face for a couple of reasons right now. Earlier this year Microsoft and Ballmer offered Yahoo $47.5 billion—or $33 per share—to purchase the company. Yang refused to sell. Last week, Yahoo shares dipped to as low as $11.24 per share, nearly a third of what Microsoft had offered. But even at a lower stock price Microsoft doesn't appear to be interested in making a bid.

Apparently, Ballmer isn't one for bargain basement shopping.