Yahoo, excluding the company’s stakes in Yahoo Japan and Alibaba, is being acquired by Verizon for $4.83 billion in cash.
“The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising,” Verizon Chairman & CEO Lowell McAdam said.
Yahoo will be integrated with AOL, which Verizon acquired last year, with Verizon EVP and Product Innovation and New Businesses organization Marni Walden leading the process.
“Yahoo is a company that has changed the world, and will continue to do so through this combination with Verizon and AOL,” Yahoo CEO Marisa Mayer said. “The sale of our operating business is an important step in our plan to unlock shareholder value for Yahoo. This transaction also sets up a great opportunity for Yahoo to build further distribution and accelerate our work in mobile, video, native advertising and social.”
“This transaction is about unleashing Yahoo’s full potential, building upon our collective synergies, and strengthening and accelerating that growth,” AOL CEO Tim Armstrong said. “Combining Verizon, AOL, and Yahoo will create a new powerful competitive rival in mobile media, and an open, scaled alternative offering for advertisers and publishers.”
However, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure painted a darker picture.
“History has proven that every single one of [the telecom deals to get into the content business] has failed,” Claure said on a conference call with reporters following the company’s quarterly earnings report on Monday.