Report: Comcast Interested in Buying Yahoo
Who’s going to buy Yahoo? A titan of the tech industry, Yahoo has worldwide brand recognition, a $26 billion stake in Chinese internet giant, Alibaba — but it’s struggled to satisfy shareholders in recent years.
Bloomberg, citing “people familiar with the process” is reporting that Yahoo is going to reach out to potential bidders as early as today — and said Comcast is one of several companies interested.
Bloomberg reports: “Companies such as Verizon Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. and AT&T Inc. are among interested parties, as well as buyout firms including Bain Capital Partners, KKR & Co. and TPG, the people said, asking not to be identified as the situation isn’t public.” Bloomberg said not to expect actual offers for at least a month.
On Friday, Yahoo announced that it’s exploring the idea of selling its core business. It enlisted the help of financial firms like Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and PJT Partners to do so.
“The Board is thoroughly committed to exploring strategic alternatives while simultaneously supporting management and the employees in their implementation of Yahoo’s strategic plan. We believe that pursuing these complementary paths is in the best interests of our shareholders and will maximize value,” said Maynard Webb, Yahoo’s board chairman in a statement.
This is not the first time rumors swirled that Comcast could be interested in acquiring Yahoo. Back in December, SunTrust analyst Robert Peck told the Wall Street Journal that Comcast could be a fit considering that it’s “been building up advertising-technology capabilities through acquisitions of firms such as FreeWheel and Visible World.”
On February 4, USA Today did a breakdown of nine potential suitors for Yahoo. Here’s what it had to say about Comcast: “Yahoo’s 1 billion users, its mobile apps and video ad technology would be a good fit for the cable and broadband provider, Mizuho Securities said in December. However, CEO Brian Roberts earlier this week said he foresees no upcoming acquisitions.”
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