WebProNews

The man who once seemed set to single-handedly force a Microsoft-Yahoo acquisition - and then settled for three seats on Yahoo's board of directors, instead - is at it again.  Carl Icahn's spoken in favor of a search partnership between the two companies. 

"I've been a strong advocate of getting a search deal done with Microsoft," Icahn recently told Reuters.  "It would enhance value if a deal got done, because of the synergies involved."

This is an interesting time for Icahn to state his opinion.  There haven't been any hints that he's up to something rebellious; Icahn actually also told Reuters that he's a "strong supporter" of Carol Bartz.  For that matter, since he still controls just three out of eleven seats on Yahoo's board of directors, Icahn can't force any changes.

So what we may have is another clue that a partnership between Microsoft and Yahoo is about to take place.  If so, Icahn could more or less speak his mind on the subject without creating any fresh rifts.

This series of developments has dragged on for months, but it looks like we could finally be getting somewhere, then.  Yahoo's earnings report tomorrow may turn out to be quite interesting.