It is now official; Verizon has reached an agreement with Yahoo in its bid to acquire the company that was once a global giant on the Internet.
The acquisition of Yahoo would be costing Verizon $4.8 billion in cash, and the company will be taking over the day to day operations of Yahoo as soon as the deal has been transacted. The move doesn’t exactly come as a surprise as rumors and hints about the acquisition of Yahoo were already flowing around the web.
Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, has expressed her views about how this deal with Verizon and AOL – which Verizon acquired a year ago – would help enhance the company’s role in some critical areas:
Yahoo is a company that has changed the world, and will continue to do so through this combination with Verizon and AOL. The sale of our operating business, which effectively separates our Asian asset equity stakes, is an important step in our plan to unlock shareholder value for Yahoo. This transaction also sets up a great opportunity for Yahoo to build further distribution and accelerate our work in mobile, video, native advertising and social.
It is important to note here that while Verizon will be acquiring Yahoo’s assets, the company’s equity in giant’s like Alibaba and its assets based in some of the Asian operations will not be coming under the Verizon umbrella.
Verizon Chairman and CEO, Lowell McAdam, said that this move will help the company become a bigger competitor in relevant markets as a top media company.
Just over a year ago we acquired AOL to enhance our strategy of providing a cross-screen connection for consumers, creators and advertisers. The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising.
The deal is of course subject to regulatory approvals as well as approval from Yahoo shareholders. It is expected to close in Q1 of 2017. Until then, the company will continue to operate as an independent entity.
For historical purposes, it’s worth remembering that Yahoo refused to buy Google for $1 million dollars back in 1998. In 2002, perhaps realizing its mistake, Yahoo offered Google $3 billion for acquisition, Google’s owners wanted $5 billion, which Yahoo refused. In 2008, Microsoft offered $40 billion for buying Yahoo, and Yahoo turned down that offer. Today, Yahoo has been sold to Verizon for just $4.8 billion. Yahoo was once worth more than $125 billion.
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