Verizon and SoftBank are poised to compete to buy Yahoo as the internet giant crumbles, according to several reports.
Yahoo has been declining steadily, and predicts that its revenue is likely to fall by 15 percent in 2016. The company has struggled to leverage advertising in a way that would keep its large search engine and social media brands afloat.
Tim Armstrong, CEO of Verizon’s AOL branch, is rumored to be negotiating with Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer for the job of not only working with the company going forward, but also dealing with the mass firings that may result from the turnover. Verizon would be homing in on Yahoo’s “core” internet business, but Armstrong has also expressed interest in the company’s 35.5 percent stake in Yahoo Japan, which, at a value of $8 billion, is no small thing.
SoftBank also appears to be interested in buying Yahoo in its entirety, although President Nikesh Arora is waiting on an offer for Yahoo from Verizon before he details his own offer further. According to the New York Post, SoftBank is already in a $150 million deal with Yahoo for search services, including paying a royalty for the Yahoo Japan brand name. Buying the troubled company could enable them to re-work the Yahoo Japan deal as well as gaining the rest of Yahoo’s products.
April 18 is the final deadline at which preliminary bids may be received.
Other companies that might be interested in the bidding process include AT&T, Alphabet (Google), Comcast, and Time.
Other Yahoo products include Yahoo Search, Answers, News, Tumblr, and Flickr.
(Via Seeking Alpha)
