In a letter to Yahoo employees and posted on Marissa Mayer’s Tumblr, the CEO talked about the company as one “that changed the world”.
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Forrester Research analyst Shar VanBoskirk said combining the firms could allow Verizon to get better data on customers across mobile, television and internet to improve advertising as well as content.
It marks the end of 20 years of independence for Yahoo.
Greg Sterling, a contributing editor to the Search Engine Land blog, said he was generally upbeat about the deal, assuming Verizon gives Yahoo breathing room and investments.
– Founded in 1994 by Stanford University students David Filo and Jerry Yang, Yahoo was created as a type of directory for the internet. It prevailed on Yahoo to instead explore the sale of its core business of search and display advertising, while leaving its ownership stakes in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan in the existing corporate entity. When asked if he would have a leadership position in Yahoo going forward, he called Mayer an “important leader”, and said Verizon’s companies were typically led by their respective brand leaders.
Yahoo’s market value was more than $37 billion when the markets opened Monday.
Investors will be hoping for a quick sale of these stakes, but Yahoo has been looking for years without success for a way to make money from the investments without incurring a huge tax bill.
But Verizon appeared to be the leading candidate because of its ability to integrate AOL’s advertising technology into Yahoo services.
Facebook and Google are forecast to deliver sales of $10.3 billion and $24.63 billion, respectively, by the end of this year, according to eMarketer. Ars said she seems likely to leave (especially with a $57 million severance waiting in the wings) although she said she loves Yahoo and “plan[s] to stay”.
The deal comes with Yahoo, a onetime leader in the online space, struggling to keep up with rivals like Google and Facebook.
“Until completion of any change of control of Yahoo, Inc, which Seven West Media understands may take six to nine months in the nature of large and complex transactions, it is business as usual at Yahoo7 here in Australia and New Zealand”. Yahoo also has $7.7 billion in cash, in addition to the $4.8 billion it will receive at the close of the Verizon deal, which it plans to return to shareholders.
While Verizon also wants Yahoo’s ad services, it also prizes the hordes that still regularly visit to pick up their email, check the weather and catch up on current events, celebrity gossip and the stock market.
Verizon could drive more traffic by loading Yahoo apps on Android phones, although Apple forbids this on iPhones.
Until early 2017 when this deal is expected to finalise, a definitive yes.
Today, Google is worth a reported 8 billion.
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USA internet firm Yahoo is being acquired by American telecoms giant Verizon Communications for almost $5bn (£3.8bn) in cash.
