Even though Microsoft declared it was not willing to restart negotiations with Yahoo! anymore, the company announced Sunday that it proposed a new deal to its former negotiations partner. Details of the proposal are not known, but it is sure that it does not refer to an acquisition.

Carl C. Icahn, the billionaire investor who recently bought 50 million Yahoo! shares, is not happy about the deal. Mr. Icahn has recently begun a campaign to change the company’s board of directors supposedly in try to make a Microsoft takeover possible.

Microsoft has been interested in enlarging its share of the search related advertising market, a market largely dominated by Google. As such, it has approached Yahoo!, the second biggest player with a bid of $31 a share earlier this year, but the company declined the offer. Microsoft had another go at it, saying it will pay $33 a share, but Yahoo! was not happy with this either.

Yahoo! shares went up during the negotiations, which prompted Carl Icahn to get involved in the matter. However, the investor is only interested in a Microsoft acquisition of the company, and if this does not happen, it is very likely he will support the negotiations between Yahoo! and Google.

The two companies have already begun discussions on forming a partnership, and an official announcement is expected this week. Such a move would make it very difficult for Microsoft to close any deals with Yahoo!, but could prove to be a good thing for Mr. Icahn, since Yahoo! shares are very likely to go up again, resulting in a good profit for the billionaire.