People briefed on Verizon’s strategy have said the company plans to merge Yahoo with AOL, which it bought for $4.4 billion past year, to build a “number three” in digital advertising behind Google and Facebook.
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Verizon and Yahoo are set to announce that they are striking an acquisition deal, according to sources close to the situation.
Aside from the search, Yahoo also has finance, news, mail and other specialty verticals as well as the blogging site Tumblr and photo site Flickr.
Verizon Communication Inc. has agreed to pay $4.8 billion to acquire Yahoo Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter, ending a drawn-out auction process for the beleaguered internet company.
Yahoo’s biggest value, however, has rested in its stakes in the Chinese online retail giant Alibaba and in Yahoo Japan – and those will remain with Yahoo.
The deal includes Yahoo real estate assets.
The deal, ironically, would also bring old colleagues Mayer and Verizon’s AOL key executive Tim Armstrong face to face, who used to work together at Google years ago.
Other interested parties that have been engaged in the four months long negotiations have been private equity firm TPG and a group led by Quicken Loans’ Dan Gilbert.
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The unforgettable Yahoo! yodel jingle.
