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Verizon Nears Deal to Acquire Yahoo (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on from the big-whale-small-whale dept.

Verizon Communications is nearing a deal to buy Yahoo, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. While nothing is official yet, the publication claims that Verizon is discussing a price close to $5 billion for Yahoo's core Internet business. The report adds that Yahoo's patents are not part of the discussion, and it's unclear whether the two companies are considering Yahoo's real estate. "The companies may be ready to announce the deal in the coming days, the people said," the report adds. Interestingly, CNBC, citing its own sources, is independently reporting the same thing.

70 comments

  1. 5bn? by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I wouldn't give you 5 bucks for Yahoo

    --

    Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    1. Re:5bn? by danbob999 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I wonder if they understand what $5 billion is, and that it is different from 5 billion cents http://verizonmath.blogspot.ca...

    2. Re:5bn? by gtall · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't give 5 bucks for Verizon. This just shows how stupid is that company.

    3. Re:5bn? by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Verizon recently bought AOL, too. Verizon's goal is to build a video ad network that rivals Google's and Facebook's. So now if you ever had an account at Yahoo or AOL (or Huffington Post or any of the other numerous web properties owned by AOL), Verizon has your info too. And they can sell it to advertisers, and combine it with your phone account information.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re:5bn? by antdude · · Score: 1

      Not even 5 IRR from me. ;)

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  2. Why? by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

    Why would Verizon want Yahoo? I just do not see how Yahoo will help Verizon or Verizon help Yahoo

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    1. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you read the article, it seems to heavily imply that the value of Yahoo's stake in Alibaba would be the primary reason.

    2. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You see you will be able to access Yahoo for free. The price of the band width you bought get dumped on to everything else you actually want to access.

    3. Re:Why? by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      "Verizon has been buying up internet and advertising technology companies, including AOL, and presenting itself as the best bet to take on Google and Facebook Inc. in mobile advertising."
      So they will have AOL and Yahoo...
      Really?

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    4. Re:Why? by tomhath · · Score: 3, Informative

      it seems to heavily imply that the value of Yahoo's stake in Alibaba would be the primary reason

      Verizon is only buying the internet part of Yahoo, not the Alibaba investment. They split that part out but don't want to sell it because of the capital gain tax burden.

    5. Re:Why? by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      In 2000, Verizon acquiring Yahoo and AOL would have been an insanely huge deal. It would basically be the equivalent of someone acquiring Google today.

      How the mighty have fallen.

      That said, AOL has had something of a soft landing after years of free fall, mostly due to the advertising business. After all of the terrible decisions that AOL and Time Warner made, that acquisition pretty much saved AOL as a business, even if it didn't save it as an industry leader.

      Yahoo... well... I guess they have Alibaba.

    6. Re:Why? by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      Why? Isn't yahoo that company that used to have a search engine or something? What do they do now?

      They're a women's fashion site devoted to Marissa Mayer's clothing and design choices.

    7. Re:Why? by jandrese · · Score: 1

      My guess is that the underlying reason is some sort of tax dodge. They're spending way too much for Yahoo so they can write down a loss and avoid having to pay taxes or some crazy scheme like that.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
    8. Re:Why? by Burz · · Score: 1

      Remember all the promises Yahoo made about protecting user data from spying? Well you can forget it now-- Verizon is one of the biggest spying corps on the planet and they will get access to everyone's Yahoo email.

  3. I was wrong. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    I honestly thought yahoo couldn't get any worse.

    1. Re:I was wrong. by transami · · Score: 1

      Exactly my thought.

      --
      :T:R:A:N:S:
    2. Re: I was wrong. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      they deserve each other.

    3. Re:I was wrong. by CrashNBrn · · Score: 1

      Nope. You are wrong. Within the last week or two Yahoo broke email. For both the new and old(er) version of Yahoo Mail.

      Previously: Search mail, and the left side-bar would show folder locations of matching emails with (# of matched mails).
      Now: Left side-bar just shows normal folders, with their unread counts.

    4. Re:I was wrong. by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      TIL that you can log into Yahoo's website and check email online. At least I think you can. It is asking me for my mobile number.

      Seriously the only yahoo email related host that doesn't have cancer is pop.mail.yahoo.com. As a really long time user IMO Yahoo mail has sucked all the way back to they days of hotmail.

  4. Yahoo still exists? by pianophile · · Score: 1

    Whenever they come, I wonder why. Circa 1996 they mattered, a little. Less and less ever since.

    --

    'Your brain is God.' -- Dr. Timothy Leary
    1. Re:Yahoo still exists? by Tough+Love · · Score: 4, Funny

      I still ping yahoo.com when I want to test my dns.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    2. Re:Yahoo still exists? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I dig google.com instead.

    3. Re:Yahoo still exists? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I ping slashdot,org

    4. Re:Yahoo still exists? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I still use yak.net

    5. Re:Yahoo still exists? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You realize that when one company is offering $5B for another company and they each have tens of millions of users and you feign ignorance of their existence that just makes it sound like you have a massive ego problem, right? It does nothing to disparage either of the primary entities.

    6. Re:Yahoo still exists? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use localhost. It works even when everything else doesn't.

  5. Yahoo's Core Internet Business by bistromath007 · · Score: 1

    I believe that consists of tumblr, Answers, and ???

    1. Re:Yahoo's Core Internet Business by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      yahoo Finance (still one of the mostly used sites in finanace), Yahoo Mail (still used by many), Flickr, Albibaba...

    2. Re:Yahoo's Core Internet Business by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I heard they messed up Yahoo! Finance. Although, I hear people saying to use https://finance.yahoo.com/?bypass=true

      I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really hope they don't mess up Yahoo! Mail.

    3. Re: Yahoo's Core Internet Business by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They already did, you need a phone number to create an email account. No thanks.

    4. Re: Yahoo's Core Internet Business by AlexSasha · · Score: 1

      Yahoo sports and finance.

  6. Verizon has $ to Burn by turkeydance · · Score: 3, Informative

    this is proof

    1. Re:Verizon has $ to Burn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Is it? Don't companies also often use loans for acquisitions, could it just mean there are some banks that think Verizon is credit worthy enough to extend them some credit?

  7. Verizon is the devil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Yahoo provides content. Verizon uses data caps to restrict access to services while zero rating their own offerings. It's just another way to engage in anticompetitive practices. Corporate executives spend most of their time inventing new and nastier ways to screw over consumers. And that's what the Republican party is about these days, claiming to support common people while truly and steadfastly being in the back pockets of the rich and corrupt. Unfortunately, calling out the wealthy, who are always corrupt, is blasphemy here on Slashdot, where Elon Musk is worshiped as a god. Therefore I'll be modded to -1 for telling it like it is.

    1. Re:Verizon is the devil by Shadowslash · · Score: 1, Troll

      butthurt much about Trump ? I'm speaking of your unneeded diatribe about Republicans... which has nothing to do with Yahoo/Verizon... go find a protest line AC, I'm sure you'll enjoy getting your hurt butt beaten.

    2. Re:Verizon is the devil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unlike the DNC who supports a woman who made $143 million personally by approving a uranium sale to Russia.
      story

      It actually doesn't get more corrupt than that. Not only did she do it, she failed to disclose the "donations" and deleted emails that might incriminate her with the "smoking gun".

      There is no one richer and more corrupt than Hilary, period. It completely baffles me that she is their nominee and people support her.

    3. Re: Verizon is the devil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Found the guy who sits alone in mom's basement, doing nothing but posting anti-Trump memes to Imgur 24/7.

      Gonna move to Canada after he wins, or are you just going to be a bitch?

      Yeah, you gonna be a bitch.

    4. Re:Verizon is the devil by gtall · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You are giving the Republican party too much credit. Most of the money people hate Bam-Bam Trump and realize he's not worth the hairspray he uses. The Republican Party no longer exists. There is some decaying skeleton that Bam-Bam has picked up for a high-pitched dog whistle.

      The House Republicans are split among the Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition sector and the Cut Taxes and We'll All Be Rich Sector. The Senate Republicans are split between the same groups. Neither gives a flying rat's ass about Wall Street given that they wanted to screw them by denying any them any bailout funds. They also wanted to deny GM and Ford any as well, so you couldn't call them crony capitalists. And that moron from Alabama Richard Shelby, between bouts of Alzheimer's dementia, has holed up any funds for the Export-Import Bank on the grounds it might help American business compete in a world awash with state owned companies.

      The Golfer-in-Chief is no better, the TTCP allows that state owned companies are viable capitalist entities and allows foreign companies access to the American court system way beyond any access they currently have.

      By the way, most of the wealthy are not corrupt, get your head out of your 60's ass.

    5. Re:Verizon is the devil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So hillary/democrat Obamacare wasn't a nasty and evil creative way to fuck over humanity? I mean, it's only life or death we're talking about for many people.

  8. Two great tastes of failure go great together by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They're like chocolate and peanut butter!

  9. Oh please... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh please for the love of god don't let them mess up Yahoo! Mail. Not being sarcastic. It's fine the way it is, at least the classic middle version.

  10. Wrong!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those sweet Geocities page views are what VZN is after. Next acquisition target: Apple eWorld.

  11. And Geocities! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That's the crown jewel, as far as I'm concerned.

  12. Good for Mozilla? by Sax+Russell+5449D29A · · Score: 1

    I suppose Mozilla will be then getting that huge load of money they have been talking about. Or continue receiving it.

    --
    -SR
  13. Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why? Isn't yahoo that company that used to have a search engine or something? What do they do now?

  14. email - ATT - Yahoo! Spam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am an AT&T customer. My web access to my email goes through Yahoo! - att.yahoo.com

    And the shitty thing about it is that sometimes I get Yahoo! marketing shit on my personal ATT email account.

    I foresee all of ATT's customers getting spammed by Verizon to switch over. I can't though because Verizon doesn't serve my area.

    1. Re:email - ATT - Yahoo! Spam by JohnFen · · Score: 2

      You're using the email address provided by your ISP? I honestly didn't think anyone was still doing that.

    2. Re:email - ATT - Yahoo! Spam by theronb · · Score: 1

      Shoot, I know somebody who still has an AOL email address!

    3. Re: email - ATT - Yahoo! Spam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shoot, I still have an aol email address.

  15. This has the potential to be... by raftpeople · · Score: 1

    ...almost as good as TimeWarner/AOL

  16. leveraging mutual synergies by inode_buddha · · Score: 1

    Oh wow, two companies that suck found a way to make each other suck even more! (Leveraging mutual synergies...)

    --
    C|N>K
    1. Re:leveraging mutual synergies by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      If "synergy" is the power of multiple top minds working together, then "suckergy" must be the multiplied suckage of two lame orgs merging.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:leveraging mutual synergies by luis_a_espinal · · Score: 1

      Oh wow, two companies that suck found a way to make each other suck even more! (Leveraging mutual synergies...)

      Corporate 69?

  17. This is why Verizon wants Yahoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Verizon wants content and services to pair with their network. Same reason Comcast + NBC or TimeWarner+AOL.

    1. Re:This is why Verizon wants Yahoo by SecurityGuy · · Score: 1

      This is more insightful than you may realize.

      http://fortune.com/2015/01/10/...

      From the link:
      "Today marks the 15th anniversary of one such calamity when media giants AOL and Time Warner combined their businesses in what is usually described as the worst merger of all time."

      I think you're right, though. This is very much like TimeWarner + AOL.

  18. Exists as an Alibaba holding company. Plus mail by raymorris · · Score: 2

    The vast majority of Yahoo's value is the Alibaba stock the own. Owning Yahoo is an indirect way of owning Alibaba. Plus you own yahoo mail as a side dish.

    1. Re:Exists as an Alibaba holding company. Plus mail by CrashNBrn · · Score: 3, Informative

      Wrong. Yahoo is only selling its "core" business. This deal has absolutely zero to do with Yahoo's Alibaba stake.

  19. There in good company. by sims+2 · · Score: 1

    Few years back I had a yahoo mail account with unlimited storage then they replaced infinity with a paltry 1TB of storage.

    Yesterday I found out that verizon wireless was replacing my unlimited data plan with a meager 100GB/mo.

    Yep seems like a good match to me.

    --
    Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    1. Re:There in good company. by Sloppy · · Score: 1

      mail account .. with a paltry 1TB of storage.

      Which just goes to show, FUSE makes it viable for people to use any protocol, even IMAP, as a filesystem.

      /home/dude# cd /mnt/imap/imap.yahoo.com/inbox/movies/msgid48D5A4EC-8B93-4DAB-8D6D-740DA165E63E@example.com /mnt/imap/imap.yahoo.com/inbox/movies/msgid48D5A4EC-8B93-4DAB-8D6D-740DA165E63E@example.com# mpv attachment1/Robocop\ \(1987\).mkv

      --
      As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
  20. This sounds familiar by jlowery · · Score: 1

    Remember Time-Warner bought AOL and soon regretted it. But they were a media company. I'm sure a communications company will do a much better job with their acquisitions.

    --
    If you post it, they will read.
    1. Re:This sounds familiar by tnk1 · · Score: 2

      AOL actually bought Time Warner, not vice-versa.

      There was a coup where the TW execs basically took over after the fail began, but AOL was the bigger fish at the time.

  21. Verizon wants one by JohnFen · · Score: 1

    Clearly, Verizon admires the boat anchor that is Yahoo and think they'd look great wearing it around their neck.

  22. Here comes even a worse Yahoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Get ready for a $1 sign on fee. A $1.25 profile update fee. A $ .50 per email read/reply fee. Oh I forgot the $5.00 a month to keep your yahoo name active fee.

  23. Yuck! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can you hear me flushing $5 billion down the toilet now?

  24. Just think... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...not terribly long ago, Yahoo turned down $32b from MS.

    Idiots.

  25. In cosmological terms by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 1

    When one giant body of suck consumes another giant body of suck, the suckage can only increase.

  26. latest press release from Verizon by renegade600 · · Score: 1

    first press release after Verizon buys Yahoo. due to some users excessive yahoo usage, unlimited emails will be limited to 10 emails a day. for those who exceeded their unlimited limits, they will be required to sign up for yahoo plus or lose their accounts. The accounts will still be unlimited as long as you don't use them as such.

  27. Time to short Verizon, then? by SecurityGuy · · Score: 1

    I guarantee, just like Yahoo is writing down Tumblr now, Verizon will be writing down Yahoo later.