Ending months of months of speculation on who would acquire Yahoo’s operating business, including search engine, email services, and web properties, Verizon Communications Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement under which Verizon will acquire Yahoo for approximately $4.83 billion in cash, subject to customary closing adjustments. The deal is expected to close in Q1 of 2017.
Yahoo has more than 1 billion monthly active users - including 600 million monthly active mobile users through its search, communications, and digital content products, and also connects advertisers with target audiences through a advertising technology stack that combines data, content, and technology.
According to Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO, adding to Verizon's AOL acquisition just over a year ago, the acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in “a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company,” and help accelerate its revenue stream in digital advertising.
Yahoo will be integrated with AOL under Marni Walden, EVP and president of the Product Innovation and New Businesses organization at Verizon.
The acqusition of content and advertising technology gained with AOL and Yahoo, in addition to customer data is expected by industry analysts to provide an advantageous combination for Verizon to expand its platform.
Combined, Verizon says that AOL and Yahoo will have more than 25 brands in a portfolio for continued investment and growth. Yahoo’s key assets include content brands in categories including finance, news and sports, as well as one its email services with approximately 225 million monthly active users. Additional technology assets in the advertising space include Brightroll, a programmatic demand-side platform; Flurry, an independent mobile apps analytics service; and Gemini, a native and search advertising solution.
Until the closing, Yahoo will continue to operate independently, offering its own products and services for users, advertisers, developers and partners.
According to Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, the sale of Yahoo’s operating business, which effectively separates its Asian asset equity stakes, sets up an opportunity for Yahoo to build further distribution and accelerate its work in mobile, video, native advertising, and social.
The sale Yahoo's operating business to Verizon does not include Yahoo’s cash, its shares in Alibaba Group Holdings, its shares in Yahoo Japan, Yahoo’s convertible notes, certain minority investments, and Yahoo’s non-core patents (the “Excalibur portfolio”). Those assets will continue to be held by Yahoo, which will change its name at closing and become a registered, publicly traded investment company.
For additional financial details of the acquisition, go to www.verizon.com/about/investors.