Yahoo's new board on Tuesday cleared the way for a fresh round of discussions with Time Warner (NYSE: TWX - News) over the future of its AOL unit, potentially reigniting negotiations for a combination of the two internet businesses that stalled earlier this year.

The green light for the talks came as Yahoo's directors met for the first time since activist investor Carl Icahn was granted access to the boardroom. Mr Icahn and two allies, former Viacom (NYSE: VIA.B - News) boss Frank Biondi and former Nextel head Frank Chapple, were given seats at the board table as part of a settlement to head off a revolt at the internet company's last shareholder meeting.

According to one person familiar with the company's thinking, the Yahoo board approved a new round of discussions with AOL, though active deal negotiations are not underway at this stage.

Talks between the two first became serious in the Spring as Yahoo cast around for ways to escape an unsolicited takeover bid from Microsoft, but grew cold again after the software company walked away.

Jeff Bewkes, chief executive officer of Time Warner, said last week that he hoped to reach a decision on AOL's future "fairly soon", though he did not lay out a definitive timetable. Mr Bewkes has made it one of his top priorities this year to resolve the future of the internet unit, which has weighed on Time Warner's overall performance. He has also sought to draw Microsoft into the discussions, though it is unclear how active those talks have become.

Despite the maneuvering around AOL, Mr Icahn suggested last week that Yahoo's future still depended on reaching an accommodation with Microsoft. He told CNBC that Yahoo would "have to do something with Microsoft or Google is going to kill them." However, there are no active talks currently underway with the software concern, according to the person close to Yahoo.