Yahoo is about to be under new management today as reports from Bloomberg are saying that Verizon has cut a deal with Yahoo that would see it buying Yahoo for USD4.8 billion.
With the deal reportedly closed, Verizon’s ownership of Yahoo would most probably bring an end to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s attempts to re-invent Yahoo as an independant company. This USD4.8 billion deal will lead to Verizon owning Yahoo’s core internet business and real estate assets. Patents owned by Yahoo are not part of the deals, and as such, these intellectual property assets will be sold seperately.
Rumours are going around that Verizon aims to combine Yahoo’s internet assets with AOL, another company that Verizon bought last year for USD4.4 billion. The acquisition of Yahoo could potentially allow AOL to expand its userbase from 700 million to almost two billion.
Source: Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal