Creating a separate, independent committee will let some directors focus on a sale while freeing up Mayer and deputies to focus their efforts on cutting costs, shoring up morale and keeping operations running.
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Shares rose almost 2 per cent before the opening bell Friday.
“As both shareholders and employees, all of us here at Yahoo want to return this iconic company to greatness”, Mayer said in a press release Friday.
Yahoo announced this month it was considering strategic alternatives for its core Internet business, after shelving previous plans to spin off its stake in ecommerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N).
JPMorgan Chase & Co. and PJT Partners Inc. will provide financial counsel, the Web company said a statement Friday.
In an unusually brief appearance, Mayer said that the future still looks bright even though her job security and Yahoo’s future is on shaky ground.
Mayer, whose 2012 appointment as Yahoo CEO stoked investors’ optimism that better times were coming, has realized about $125 million in compensation from cash and equity awards since joining the company, according to Foley.
Starboard CEO Jeff Smith said in a public letter last month that selling the company’s core business is now the best possible outcome for shareholders.
The Sunnyvale company is hoping that more developers will use Flurry and that data gleaned from it will help them hone their products – and give Yahoo more customer information that it can use to boost its advertising business and improve its products.
Verizon Communications Inc is among the many know-how, media and telecommunications corporations seen as potential consumers of Yahoo’s core enterprise.
Reps for Yahoo! declined to comment.
On Wednesday, Yahoo Global editor in chief Martha Nelson announced the phasing-out of online magazines Yahoo Food, Yahoo Health, Yahoo Parenting, Yahoo Makers, Yahoo Travel, Yahoo Autos and Yahoo Real Estate.
“The Board is thoroughly committed to exploring strategic alternatives while simultaneously supporting management and the employees in their implementation of Yahoo’s strategic plan”.
The launch of a formal sale process entails setting up a virtual data room detailing the company’s business metrics and proactively reaching out to the most likely potential buyers.
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“For Tumblr, our priority remains user growth, and we have been pleased with the progress made in engagement, with over 80% of daily users on mobile”, Mayer said on an earnings call.
