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AT&T May Push Verizon Aside In Yahoo Auction Battle

AT&T ( T ) is poised to make its own run for Yahoo ’s ( YHOO ) Internet business, potentially thwarting telecom rival Verizon Communications ( VZ ), which has been viewed as the front-runner. Bloomberg reported  Wednesday that AT&T “remains a contender” to acquire Yahoo’s Internet business. AT&T is mulling its own play for the Web portal after YP Holdings decided to back off, Bloomberg reported. While Verizon has a huge debt load as the result of acquiring Vodafone’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion, AT&T’s balance sheet is in better shape from its acquisition of DirecTV Group. YP Holdings, now a digital advertising business, is AT&T’s former print yellow pages unit. Cerberus Capital Management controls YP Holdings, though AT&T still holds a stake in it. Lowell McAdam, Verizon’s CEO, restated an interest in buying part or all of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo at a JPMorgan conference on Tuesday. “It’s a possibility to gain greater scale,” McAdam said. Verizon acquired AOL for $4.4 billion in 2015. A second round of bidding for Yahoo is expected to conclude in early June. Aside from Verizon, bidders are said to include private equity firm TPG and a consortium led by Bain Capital LP and Vista Equity Partners. Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKB ) Chairman Warren Buffett, a noted investor who generally stays away from tech companies, might back a group led by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, if it makes a bid. Yahoo owns stakes in China e-commerce giant Alibaba Holdings ( BABA ) and in Tokyo-listed Yahoo Japan. Those assets may be excluded from a sale of the Internet and advertising business.

Alibaba Faces SEC Accounting Probe Of Singles Day, More

Alibaba ( BABA ) disclosed Wednesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission has been probing whether its accounting into its Singles Day e-commerce event and various consolidation practices violate U.S. securities laws. Shares of the e-commerce giant fell 3.9% to 77.96 in morning trade on the stock market today , undercutting the 50-day moving average where Alibaba has found support in recent days. IBD’s Take: How healthy is Alibaba’s stock, and how does it compare vs. key rivals such as Amazon? Find out at IBD Stock Checkup Alibaba reported the SEC probe in an SEC filing. Here is the key passage. “Earlier this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, informed us that it was initiating an investigation into whether there have been any violations of the federal securities laws. The SEC has requested that we voluntarily provide it with documents and information relating to, among other things: our consolidation policies and practices (including our accounting for Cainiao Network as an equity method investee), our policies and practices applicable to related party transactions in general, and our reporting of operating data from Singles Day. We are voluntarily disclosing this SEC request for information and cooperating with the SEC and, through our legal counsel, have been providing the SEC with requested documents and information. The SEC advised us that the initiation of a request for information should not be construed as an indication by the SEC or its staff that any violation of the federal securities laws has occurred. This matter is ongoing, and, as with any regulatory proceeding, we cannot predict when it will be concluded.” Singles Day — Nov. 11 — has become the world’s largest e-commerce event, far above Cyber Monday or the new Amazon ( AMZN ) Prime Day last year. Alibaba had $13.7 billion in sales in last year’s event, with JD.com ( JD ) and other Chinese retailers also taking part. Separately, Alibaba, Baidu ( BIDU ), Tencent ( TCEHY ) and other Chinese Internet companies should should see continued strong growth in online-to-offline spending, Moody’s says. Moody’s sees Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, sometimes referred to as “BAT,” should deliver 15%-30% revenue growth over the next  12-18 months, partly due to O2O efforts that have increased customer engagement and monetization. Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent have spent billions of dollars on O2O-related initiatives in recent years. “For all three companies, we expect that their investments will remain high, as they establish or acquire end-to-end logistics capabilities,” Moody’s said.

Yahoo CFO: Possible Buyers ‘Signaling’ In Media As Talks Drag On

Possible buyers of Yahoo ( YHOO ) are “signaling” in the media as they negotiate to purchase the Web portal, Yahoo’s chief financial officer said at a financial conference Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Verizon or private equity firms might offer as little as $2 billion to $3 billion for Yahoo, when analysts had been estimating bids in the $4 billion to $8 billion range. CNBC’s David Faber on Friday, in a tweet, declared that report “completely wrong.” Verizon Communications ( VZ ) has been viewed as the front-runner to buy Yahoo. There’s also speculation Microsoft ( MSFT ) has been in talks with private equity firms. “It is a robust process. Our collective goal is that we find a way, wherever this ends up, that ultimately Yahoo will do better,” Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman said at a JPMorgan financial conference in Boston. “I think it’s going very, very well. I sort of laugh sometimes at the press — at the signaling that people seem to try and do out there from a negotiating point of view,” he said. “But I think we’re working tirelessly to get to the right place.” Yahoo owns stakes in China e-commerce giant Alibaba Holdings ( BABA ) and in Tokyo-listed Yahoo Japan. SoftBank, which owns U.S. wireless firm Sprint ( S ) ( IBD ), is the biggest shareholder in Alibaba and in Yahoo Japan. Japan-based SoftBank might play a role in Yahoo’s expected sale, observers say. Yahoo recently added four new independent directors to its board under pressure by activist investor Starboard Value. Others in the hunt for Yahoo include big private equity firm TPG Capital and a group comprising investment firms Bain Capital and Vista Equity Partners. Berkshire Hathaway  ( BRKA ) Chairman  Warren Buffet , a noted investor who generally stays away from tech companies, might back a group led by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, if it makes a bid.