Verizon Communications Inc will announce an agreement on Monday to buy Yahoo Inc for about $5 billion. The deal will end months of uncertainty about Yahoo’s future after the company announced plans to review strategic alternatives in February.
The transaction would boost Verizon’s AOL internet business, which the company acquired last year for $4.4 billion, by giving it access to Yahoo’s advertising technology tools, as well as other assets such as search, mail, messenger and real estate.
The deal would allow Yahoo to separate its main assets from its holdings in Chinese internet giant Alibaba, which accounts for most of Yahoo’s USD 37 billion market value.
Several other bidders have been in talks, according to reports, including Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, who is being backed by billionaire Warren Buffett. But Verizon appeared to be the leading candidate, because of its ability to integrate AOL’s advertising technology into Yahoo services.
Yahoo has been under pressure from shareholders to break up the company to “unlock” the value of its holdings in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, and to find a new path for the company after years of sputtering.
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