Yahoo and Carl Icahn have called off the proxy battle for control of the company. They reach a deal in which Yahoo’s board is expanded to 11 members. The current 8 members stay in place and Ichan and two other nominees from Ichan’s list join the board. Ichan has agreed to withdraw his slate of alternative directors.

It isn’t clear how they reached such a deal, considering that both side’s arguments were close to becoming personal. Things seem to be all warm and fuzzy right now.

"While I continue to believe that the sale of the whole company or the sale of its search business in the right transaction must be given full consideration, I share the view that Yahoo!'s valuable collection of assets positions it well to continue expanding its online leadership and enhancing returns to stockholders.", Ichan said.

What this means for any possible deal between Microsoft and Yahoo remains to be seen, but further discussion on the matter is certain to be behind closed boardroom doors.