Chinese Law Muddles Microsoft Bid for Yahoo

A new anti-monopoly law in China could interfere with Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo, the New York Times reports. Because Yahoo owns 40% of Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce business, Beijing could demand approval of the deal along with the US and the EU.
“I don’t think anyone has worked through the issue of where an Internet merger should be reviewed,” said a law professor.

It is unclear how China would treat the potential merger; if Microsoft acquires Yahoo, Alibaba officials say they may exercise a buyback option. The new law is a bid to make Beijing “another regulatory capital contending for influence with Brussels and Washington,” says one analyst. (More China stories.)