Scalper1 News
Yahoo ( YHOO ) stock fell Friday on speculation the Web portal’s buyout offers might be less than half of what most observers had been expecting, amid a second round of bidding. Yahoo stock fell 1.4% to 36.50 in the stock market today . That gives it a market valuation of roughly $35 billion, but almost all of its value is comprised of big stakes in China e-commerce giant Alibaba ( BABA ) and in Tokyo-listed Yahoo Japan. Verizon Communications ( VZ ), which bought AOL last year, has been viewed as the front-runner to buy Yahoo, although private equity firms have also been kicking the tires. There’s been speculation that Microsoft ( MSFT ), which has a search partnership with Yahoo, could team with a private-equity firm, or that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKB ) might back a bid by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert. Some early estimates put possible bids in the $5 billion to $8 billion range for the core Yahoo business, which excludes Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. As many as 10 bidders have taken part in presentations led by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, according to reports. The Wall Street Journal, however, reported late Thursday that some PE firms might offer as little as $2 billion to $3 billion, or not bid at all. And Verizon, too, might offer a lower bid, says the report, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. Yahoo has set a deadline in the first week of June for the next round of bids. Verizon, which bought AOL in 2015 for $4.4 billion, aims to morph into a digital media company that garners more advertising revenue, as wireless data competition mounts. Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News