WASHINGTON: Though Microsoft Corp is no longer interested in buying out Yahoo Inc, the software giant's CEO Steve Ballmer said on Wednesday that Microsoft is very much open to a search deal with Yahoo.

Yahoo, which had rejected the $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft's in May, had also rejected the bid to buy only its search engine.

"Let me be clear, we are done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo," Ballmer reportedly said at Microsoft's annual shareholder meeting.

It was reported that Yahoo rejected the deal on the insistence of its co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang. However, since he is stepping down, analysts had felt that things might change.

According to latest reports Yahoo shareholders expect the next chief executive to be willing to do a deal with Microsoft.

Microsoft's retraction from the prospective deal sent Yahoo shares diving more than 20 per cent on Wednesday.

However, some analysts feel that Ballmer's public comment is a tactical one aimed at a price negotiation and the software giant still wants to grab Yahoo at a low price.