Scalper1 News
AT&T ( T ) is poised to make its own run for Yahoo ’s ( YHOO ) Internet business, potentially thwarting telecom rival Verizon Communications ( VZ ), which has been viewed as the front-runner. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that AT&T “remains a contender” to acquire Yahoo’s Internet business. AT&T is mulling its own play for the Web portal after YP Holdings decided to back off, Bloomberg reported. While Verizon has a huge debt load as the result of acquiring Vodafone’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion, AT&T’s balance sheet is in better shape from its acquisition of DirecTV Group. YP Holdings, now a digital advertising business, is AT&T’s former print yellow pages unit. Cerberus Capital Management controls YP Holdings, though AT&T still holds a stake in it. Lowell McAdam, Verizon’s CEO, restated an interest in buying part or all of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo at a JPMorgan conference on Tuesday. “It’s a possibility to gain greater scale,” McAdam said. Verizon acquired AOL for $4.4 billion in 2015. A second round of bidding for Yahoo is expected to conclude in early June. Aside from Verizon, bidders are said to include private equity firm TPG and a consortium led by Bain Capital LP and Vista Equity Partners. Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKB ) Chairman Warren Buffett, a noted investor who generally stays away from tech companies, might back a group led by Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, if it makes a bid. Yahoo owns stakes in China e-commerce giant Alibaba Holdings ( BABA ) and in Tokyo-listed Yahoo Japan. Those assets may be excluded from a sale of the Internet and advertising business. Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News