Yahoo is expected to be sold to Verizon for a total of $4.8 billion, according to announcement that will officially be made sometime this coming Monday.
Two individuals claiming to have direct knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be identified due to the information not yet being made public, have stated that the deal specifically includes Yahoo’s core real estate assets, while other intellectual property will also be separately sold. Furthermore, Yahoo will continue to be left with all of its stakes in both Yahoo Japan Corp. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Both of these groups hold a combined value of approximately $40 billion.
This deal will not only add to Verizon’s growing roster of media properties, but it will also mark the end of the reign of Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s Chief Executive Officer, who attempted, but failed, to re-invent Yahoo as its own independent company.
As part of the deal, Verizon is expected to keep Yahoo intact in order to compete with both Google and Facebook in terms of digital advertisements. By purchasing the website, Verizon will double the size of its overall digital advertising, which will put it in third place behind both Google and Facebook.
This deal comes approximately two years after changes had been called for at Yahoo, which involved Mayer being pushed to merge the company with AOL. When that didn’t happen, word emerged that Yahoo was considering a sale in February after Mayer was facing continued pressure.
Following the initial word that the sale of Yahoo to Verizon may take place from Bloomberg News, Yahoo shares saw a 1.4% gain, which caused it to close at $39.38 on Friday. That same day, Verizon’s shares also saw a gain as well, advancing a total of 1.3% and closing at $56.10.
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