Microsoft has cancelled its bid to acquire Yahoo, and will not renew efforts to acquire the Internet portal,, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The software giant was willing to pay nearly $45 billion to buy Yahoo earlier this year but had "moved on" and was "done with all acquisition discussions" with Yahoo, stated Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO.

Ballmer said Microsoft remains "very open" to a deal that will give it Yahoo's search engine business. Yahoo had rejected Microsoft’s proposal to hand over its search business in exchange for $1 billion plus guaranteed annual payments to the internet company of $2.3 billion for five years.

For the complete story, click here.