The prettiest girl at the party

Microsoft may have to fight other suitors for the hand of Yahoo.

According to Silicon Valley Insider, a major private-equity firm was days from making its own bid on Yahoo! when Microsoft announced its interest last Friday.

Guesses to the firm's identity include Silver Lake and New York-based Quandrangle Partners, which Yahoo ex-president Dan Rosensweig works for.

News Corp. may also try drumming up a counter offer, and MacRumors lists Apple as yet another suitor. For what it is worth, TechCrunch believes Microsoft has already won the deal.