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Comcast ( CMCSA ), Verizon ( VZ ) and AT&T ( T ) would make perfect buyers for sagging Yahoo ( YHOO ), says investment bank Mizuho Securities. All three companies “would be willing to bid aggressively for Yahoo in order to gain access to Yahoo’s user base and online advertising assets,” wrote Mizuho analyst Neil Doshi in a research note Thursday. “There is no shame in selling the core business to a strategic buyer. Tim Armstrong sold AOL to Verizon for $4.4 billion, an impressive outcome for most parties involved.” Yahoo’s board also “seems to be at odds” with Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and the two-year strategic plan that she recently proposed, Doshi said. “This rift could be exacerbated if the board gets compelling offers that Ms. Mayer is not willing to accept. We haven’t come across many investors that are thrilled about Mayer’s two-year strategic plan, so we’re not optimistic that she will have success on this front.” Almost all of Yahoo’s current value stems from its stake in China Internet powerhouse Alibaba Group ( BABA ). The company’s turnaround plan includes continued investment in what the company calls “Mavens,” an acronym for Yahoo’s mobile, video, native advertising and social businesses, where its ad revenue is growing. Mayer said the Web portal will narrow its focus to four areas — news, sports, finance and lifestyle. “A simplified Yahoo will yield better focus, execution and increase shareholder value,” she said in the company’s Q4 earnings conference call. Mayer reportedly will further outline her turnaround plan before two major hedge funds that are major Yahoo shareholders, Millennium Partners and Mason Capital, according to a report Wednesday in the New York Post. That news report comes on the heels of Mayer’s hiring of Manhattan-based Innisfree M&A to help recruit investor support, as activist investor Jeff Smith of Starboard Value pushes for Mayer to leave. Yahoo this month said it would cut 15% of its workforce, close five non-U.S. offices and look to sell non-core divisions and assets, such as patents and real estate, as part of a strategic plan to return the company to modest-though-accelerating growth in 2017 and 2018. By year-end, Yahoo said it anticipates having about 9,000 employees and fewer than 1,000 contractors, representing a workforce that is 42% smaller than it was in 2012. It expects to save $400 million a year in short-term operating expenses from these cuts. Yahoo stock, up a fraction in afternoon trading in the stock market today , near 31, has tumbled nearly 40% since the start of 2015. Scalper1 News
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