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<\/a>Whatever happened between Google and Yelp is now officially kaput. Instead of selling the entire company to the search giant, Yelp’s owners will be taking up to $100 million in funding from private equity shop Elevation Partners.<\/p>\nI still don’t know how close Google and Yelp came to actually consummating a transaction, but Elevation’s involvement does clear one thing up. As I noted in December when news of the would-be Google deal broke, Yelp had already been exploring a large funding round<\/a>. And now sources tell me that Elevation had been in the mix for months.<\/p>\n Elevation, whose most prominent portfolio company to date has been Palm (PALM), will put $25 million into the local reviews site for expansion, and has earmarked up to $75 million more to buy shares from employees. That structure is similar to the deals Russian investors Digital Sky Technologies have done with Facebook<\/a> and Zynga<\/a> — and as in those deals, the Elevation bet means any public offering has likely been pushed back by a year or more.<\/p>\n BusinessWeek<\/a> pegs the value of the round at $475 million. TechCrunch<\/a> first reported Elevation’s involvement earlier this month.<\/p>\n Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n