Try not to look so desperate

Yesterday a Yahoo investor proposed that the company sell to Microsoft for $22 per share, a 74 percent premium on its stock price, which sat parked at $12.65 as of market close yesterday.

The attempt to slick Microsoft's appetite is a stroke of irony, given the companies' recent history. The software giant tried in February to purchase its rival for $44.6 billion, amounting at the time to to $31 per share. Yahoo declined — not once, nor twice, but three times over the course of the next several months, repeatedly arguing that the offer was too low.

Last night partner Mark Nelson of Mithras Capital — which owns 1.9 million shares, or 0.14 percent, of Yahoo — wrote a letter to CEO Jerry Yang and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft to propose the move, which would cost the latter $10.3 billion in total for Yahoo Search. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft would unload Yahoo's Asian assets and non-search businesses, reining in $2.8 billion in tax benefits and a $3 billion cost savings, Reuters reports.

"It is imperative for Microsoft to act now, while the Yahoo-Google deal is mired in regulatory concerns, and before Yahoo strikes a deal with AOL," said Nelson, dubbing his proposal "the best outcome for long-suffering Yahoo shareholders."

Neither Yahoo nor Microsoft has commented on the offer, but at least one armchair spectator is optimistic. "As Yahoo shares decline and Microsoft struggles in its online services business, it is increasingly likely Microsoft will make a new offer," wrote Rob Sanderson, American Technology Research, in a note to clients on Wednesday. The analyst currently has a buy rating on Yahoo with a $22 target.