New York, July 7 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp on Monday said it would be willing to reopen talks to buy all or part of Yahoo Inc — but only if a new Yahoo board is elected, a major boost for investor Carl Icahn’s board slate.

Microsoft, which broke off talks in early May to buy the Internet company for $47.5 billion, said it would resume discussions immediately if a new board was elected at Yahoo’s August 1 stockholder meeting.

The Microsoft statement came after Icahn, the billionaire financier who holds over 4 per cent of Yahoo, issued his own statement that he had “spoken frequently” to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer over the last week. Previously, the two had not spoken.

Ballmer told Icahn that a big impediment to any Yahoo deal was his concern that the current board could “mismanage” the company while the deal awaited regulatory approval, a process that could take nine months or more, according to Icahn.

In an interview, Icahn argued that his proposed dissident board slate would make Microsoft feel more secure in risking a large sum of capital to complete the deal during the regulatory approval process.