Yahoo and Microsoft have missed a deadline for finalizing their search and advertising deal and have now extended the deadline for an unspecified period.
When the companies announced in July that Microsoft's Bing search engine would power Yahoo's search results, they said that they planned to finalize the deal by Oct. 27 or use an arbitration panel to hammer out their differences.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Yahoo said the companies have agreed to extend the period to negotiate and execute the deal.
“Given the complex nature of the transaction, there remain some details to be finalized,” Yahoo said in the filing. “The parties are working diligently on finalizing the agreements, have made good progress to date, and have agreed to execute the agreements as expeditiously as possible.”
The filing does not provide a new deadline for finalizing the agreement.
In a joint statement, Microsoft said it was committed to the agreement and that the companies had mutually agreed to extend the deadline.
“We plan to do this as expeditiously as possible. Both companies are optimistic that we will be able to close this deal by early 2010,” Microsoft said.
Yahoo and Microsoft initially estimated it would take them two years to fully implement the deal, which also involves Yahoo providing premium search advertising services for both companies.
The deal is facing an antitrust review by the U.S. Department of Justice.
