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Possible buyers of Yahoo ( YHOO ) are “signaling” in the media as they negotiate to purchase the Web portal, Yahoo’s chief financial officer said at a financial conference Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Verizon or private equity firms might offer as little as $2 billion to $3 billion for Yahoo, when analysts had been estimating bids in the $4 billion to $8 billion range. CNBC’s David Faber on Friday, in a tweet, declared that report “completely wrong.” Verizon Communications ( VZ ) has been viewed as the front-runner to buy Yahoo. There’s also speculation Microsoft ( MSFT ) has been in talks with private equity firms. “It is a robust process. Our collective goal is that we find a way, wherever this ends up, that ultimately Yahoo will do better,” Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman said at a JPMorgan financial conference in Boston. “I think it’s going very, very well. I sort of laugh sometimes at the press — at the signaling that people seem to try and do out there from a negotiating point of view,” he said. “But I think we’re working tirelessly to get to the right place.” Yahoo owns stakes in China e-commerce giant Alibaba Holdings ( BABA ) and in Tokyo-listed Yahoo Japan. SoftBank, which owns U.S. wireless firm Sprint ( S ) ( IBD ), is the biggest shareholder in Alibaba and in Yahoo Japan. Japan-based SoftBank might play a role in Yahoo’s expected sale, observers say. Yahoo recently added four new independent directors to its board under pressure by activist investor Starboard Value. Others in the hunt for Yahoo include big private equity firm TPG Capital and a group comprising investment firms Bain Capital and Vista Equity Partners. Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKA ) Chairman Warren Buffet , 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. Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News