Goldman Tapped in Yahoo! Bid

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It looks as though Goldman Sachs(GS) could be doing more defensive work for Yahoo!(YHOO)

Yahoo! has hired Goldman to defend itself against possible take over approaches by AOL Inc. and private-equity funds including Silver Lake, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Yahoo!'s stock was up 60 cents at $15.85 on the rumors earlier Thursday.

This wouldn't be the first time Goldman has rebuffed offers to take over Yahoo! Goldman bankers Jon Woodruff and Gene Tiger Sykes helped the company in 2008 when activist Carl Icahn launched a proxy fight in favor of Microsoft's(MSFT) $47.5 billion takeover bid in 2008. At the time, shareholders considered the bid undervalued.

Yahoo! has a long history of working with Goldman Sachs for acquisitions as well, according to Dealogic .

Will Yahoo! be acquired this time around? It would likely be a difficult deal. For more read the latest story on The Street.

"A large percentage of the shareholders are on the board so this isn't a company that can be takenover or pushed around," said Jones Day's Bob Profusek.

--Written by Maria Woehr in New York.

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