The Wall Street Journal, citing “a person familiar with Alibaba’s thinking”, reported that Alibaba is unlikely to pursue Yahoo’s core business.
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Another interesting twist in Yahoo’s continued struggle arrived in November when activist investor Starboard Value asked the company to withdraw its plans to spin off its stake in Alibaba and instead reconsider selling its core search and advertising businesses.
Growing concerns around Chief Executive Marissa Mayer’s lack of progress turning around Yahoo and an exodus of top executives have increased pressure on the company’s board to consider her future and alternatives to her turnaround attempt, now in its fourth year. Many had hoped that Mayer would be able to quickly make progress on the company’s comeback but, four years later, little progress has been made. If the board decides to sell the core business, the online media company will have to put in motion a deal to sell its Alibaba stake and 35% stake in Yahoo!
Many financial analysts believe that if Yahoo sells its main assets, the company will cease to be a viable business.
Yahoo Inc. declined to comment on the board’s agenda.
Starboard said in the letter to Yahoo, that it changed its position following federal government’s decision not to rule on whether the Alibaba spinoff would incur billions of dollars in taxes.
One said the report of the Yahoo sale was overblown, noting that the firm had looked at Yahoo earlier, but that it wasn’t for sale and that the company needs to fix a lot of things before it could begin a sales process.
Ever since she first landed the CEO job at Yahoo Inc. back in 2012, Marissa Mayer has tried all manner of tricks aimed at getting people to engage with its Internet services, like Yahoo!
In addition to its search platform, Yahoo Internet businesses include Yahoo News, Yahoo Mail and social media site Tumblr, among other holdings. Its revenue grew 6.8 percent in the third quarter to US$1.2 billion, while profit dropped to US$76 million.
Bob Lord took on the CISO role in October, following the departure of Alex Stamos in June to Facebook, and replacement Ramses Martinez leaving Yahoo to join Apple in August.
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Reports of the possible sale was received favorably, with stock rising 7 percent in extended trading.
