Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Softbank Corp. are in talks with private equity firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital toward a potential a bid for all of Yahoo! Inc., according to three people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported.

Alibaba has prepared financing for a possible bid, and would prefer to be invited rather than hostile. But the Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant said it still hasn’t informed Yahoo of its plans, Bloomberg quoted an unnamed source as saying.

Alibaba has finished a review of Yahoo! and will make a formal offer for the acquisition soon, said one person with the knowledge of the matter.

Alibaba, the top e-commerce site in China, is 40 percent owned by Yahoo! and is considered one of its best assets.

China's business press carried the story above on Thursday.