Yahoo confirms sale of core assets for $4.8 billion to Verizon

The deal marks the end of Yahoo as an operating company

Yahoo agreed to sell its core assets to telecom giant Verizon for $4.8 billion, ending a 20-year run by the internet pioneer as an independent company, the firms announced Monday.

Verizon chief executive Lowell McAdam said Yahoo would be integrated into its recently acquired AOL unit to create "a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising."

The acquisition, expected to close in early 2017, will exclude Yahoo's cash, certain patent holdings, and its big share in China's Alibaba Group and stake in Yahoo Japan.



The deal will leave Yahoo as a separate investment company that will change its name after the transaction.

Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, said in a statement: "Yahoo is a company that has changed the world, and will continue to do so through this combination with Verizon and AOL."

She added that the deal separates the core Yahoo business from its Asian asset equity stakes, and "is an important step in our plan to unlock shareholder value for Yahoo."

The deal comes with Yahoo, a onetime leader in the online space, struggling to keep up with rivals like Google and Facebook.

Bloomberg first reported the deal would be announced on Monday for $4.8 billion.



Reuters reported on Friday that Verizon had emerged as the front-runner in the Yahoo auction.

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.

It would also mark the end of Yahoo as an operating company, leaving it only as the owner of a 35.5 percent stake in Yahoo Japan, as well as its 15 percent interest in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N).



Started in 1994 by Stanford graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo, Yahoo in its early years was the destination of choice for many making their first forays onto the World Wide Web.

By 2008, Yahoo was fending off a contentious takeover bid from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and struggling to define its mission.

That question was never really answered, leading to years of management instability and shifting priorities.

In December, Yahoo scrapped plans to spin off its Alibaba stake after investors fretted over whether that transaction could have been carried out on a tax-free basis. It instead decided to explore a sale of its core assets, spurred on by activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP.