Yahoo! Inc. has reportedly been contacted by potential bidders, including Silver Lake, who are interested in buying the troubled Internet firm.

Possible suitors for Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo!, which earlier this month fired CEO Carol Bartz and named chief financial officer Timothy Morse as interim chief executive, would focus on the company's valuable Asia assets. In addition to Silver Lake, a private equity firm with deep experience in tech from investments including Skype Technologies SA, media executive Peter Chernin has reportedly held talks with Providence Equity Partners about a potential bid.

Yahoo! has been the subject of considerable speculation in the days since Bartz was fired, with AOL Inc. and a consortium to be organized by Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang also mentioned as potential acquirers. The company's stock has languished and revenue growth has been stagnant in recent years while newer social networking companies including Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. enjoyed revenue growth and soaked up investor attention.

Potential private equity bidders for Yahoo! are expected to look to sell the company's 40% stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. of China and 35% stake in Yahoo Japan Corp., which by some estimates account for at least half of Yahoo!'s $18 billion market capitalization. The company as of June 30 had $2.55 billion in cash on its balance sheet and just $40 million in total debt.

A potential buyer could also consider smaller assets for sale. Bartz during her tenure was credited for streamlining the Yahoo! organizational structure and completed several asset sales, including selling HotJobs to Monster Worldwide Inc. for $350 million. She also struck a deal with Microsoft Corp., which in 2008 offered $45 billion to buy the company outright, to license Yahoo!'s core search technology.

Yahoo! also faces pressure from activist hedge fund Third Point LLC, which last week disclosed that it holds more than 5% of Yahoo! shares. Third Point founder Dan Loeb in letters to the company has criticized the board and in particular chairman Roy Bostock as a "destroyer of value."