Yahoo considers selling internet business
Yahoo is reportedly mulling over the sale of its core internet business.
Marissa Meyer’s planned turnaround of the once-great Google-rivalling internet company hasn’t quite panned out as the Yahoo board would have liked. Profits are weak and there appears to be a mass exodus of top executives from the company.
As a result, The Wall Street Journal has learned that the Yahoo board will hold a series of meetings between today and Friday to decide whether to sell off the company’s core internet business.
You might wonder what Yahoo would be without its internet business, and you’d be right to wonder. Yahoo’s decision on this matter will determine the future of the company as we know it.
Aside from its internet business, Yahoo has a large and valuable stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, as well as an even larger (but less valuable) stake in Yahoo Japan. Other options include spinning off its investment in those Asian assets, which are worth a combined $40 billion, or doing both.
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Of course, a third option would be to do nothing, and to continue giving Meyer’s recovery plan (now in its fourth year) more of a chance to succeed.
Yahoo is no stranger to takeover talks. Back in 2008, Microsoft launched a bid to acquire the floundering internet company. Would such a major company take a similar punt on Yahoo’s internet business today?
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