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Yahoo is limping like a wounded animal at the moment and the vultures are swooping overhead, preparing to buy out the company as soon as that option is made available.
According to the NYT:
Several buyout shops and strategic investors, including the private equity firm Silver Lake, which has already approached Yahoo about a potential bid, two people close to Yahoo said.
Silver Lake, which is working with the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, has been quietly studying a possible bid for the last six months, one person said. Other potential bidders for Yahoo or its assets include Microsoft and the Alibaba Group.
In 2008 Microsoft bid $44.6 billion to purchase the one-time internet darling, a sum Yahoo executives balked at, since that time the company has lost more than 50% of their stock value and have become entangled in internet scandal after firing CEO Carol Bartz this past week.
Realizing that the Silver Lake attention should be given the focus it deserves Yahoo’s board discussed the company during their Wednesday meetings and hired Allen & Company as its investment bank.
In other news that the company may go on to the highest bidder they have discussed selling off several Asian interests including their 40 percent stake in the Alibaba Group, a Chinese e-commerce company and their 35 pecent stake in Yahoo Japan. Company’s will often sell off non-core aspects of their business to make an acquisition seem more viable by leaning down the company into it’s most profitable sectors to wipe out loses or slow performing businesses wherever possible.
Asian investments could have also complicated a buyout, however some analysts call those parts of the company’s portfolio their most important.
At this time Silverlake Partners, Microsoft and Yahoo are all declining to comment.
