Two financial groups are discussing whether to bid on Internet company Yahoo Inc. with their Asian partners, a deal that would value the struggling Silicon Valley company at about $25 billion, according to media reports.

Blackstone Group and Bain Capital are preparing a bid for all of Yahoo Inc., Reuters said, citing “a source familiar with the matter.”

Several news outlets, including Bloomberg (News - Alert) and Reuters, said that Blackstone and Bain Capital could bid more than $20 per share if they pursue a joint bid with Alibaba Group of China and Japan’s Softbank (News - Alert) Corp, which would equate to more than $25 billion, based on the 1.24 billion shares that Yahoo had outstanding as of Oct. 31.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, whose primary interest is in buying back a 40 percent stake owned by Yahoo, is keeping its options open and said it has not decided whether to participate in a bid for all of Yahoo, Reuters (News - Alert) said.

Yahoo is indeed enduring some tumultuous times. In September, the company’s board of directors fired CEO Carol Bartz and initiated a “strategic review.” The review has become complicated by the different agendas of players with a say in the situation, including its Asian partners, co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo, the board and shareholder, Reuters said.

As TMC (News - Alert) CEO Rich Tehrani opined following Bartz’s termination, “Yahoo has hopefully learned that it competes with Google (News - Alert) and they need a leader who can go toe to toe with the search giant on apps, mobile and in the numerous areas such as video where Google has left the company in the dust.”

Barron’s recently summarized how a potential leveraged-buyout (LBO) transaction could be structured “given the high amount of private-equity interest and speculation around Alibaba Group and Yahoo shares,” TechZone360 reported.

“The bottom line is that we do not see a near-term transaction given the complexities, but recent transactions validate the underlying value in Alibaba Group [of China],” Barron’s reported, noting that Yahoo appears to be in the process of dismantling itself, maybe into pieces for sale.

Barron’s asserted that Yahoo could be “an attractive candidate” for an LBO transaction.

“We think a takeout could potentially fetch a bid for $19 per share (29 percent premium) for Yahoo, which would require about $25 billion in total capital,” the report said, noting, however, the complexities in a potential transaction based on the firm’s Asian assets and the multiple parties involved mean that “a near-term event is unlikely.”