Revolution coming for Yahoo, which is changing owners and will soon find itself with a new name. How the company will be renamed is not yet known, but it is now certain that Yahoo's web-related activities will pass to Verizon. The telecommunications giant will merge into its subsidiary AOL (purchased last year for 4,4 billion), in the context of a $4,83 billion cash transaction which also includes some real estate assets of Yahoo (the initial offer did not include them and was 3 billion).
"A little over a year ago we acquired AOL to strengthen our customers' cross-screen connectivity strategy with technology that combines data, content and innovation," said Verizon Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval and Yahoo shareholder approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017. Until closing, "Yahoo will continue to operate independently" . The company will remain listed even after the formalization of the agreement.
WHAT IS OUT OF THE AGREEMENT
The participation that Yahoo holds in the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, the shares of Yahoo Japan, Yahoo's liquidity and the "Excalibur portfolio", which concerns non-fundamental patents, as well as some smaller investments and convertible securities which will continue to be held by Yahoo.
MARISSA MAYER'S GOLDEN FUTURE
At the moment it is not clear what will be the fate of Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer, the former Google manager (she was the first female engineer hired by Mountain View) who in recent years has tried unsuccessfully to revive Yahoo's fortunes. According to some observers it is unlikely that you will have a relevant role and some even believe that you will not be given any role.
“Personally – wrote Mayer on Tumblr -, I intend to stay. I love Yahoo and I believe in all of you. It's important to me to see Yahoo in its next chapter."
But even if it goes badly, the CEO will really have something to console herself with: Mayer's contract - which so far has raised over 100 million dollars in cash and shares - provides for the payment of a severance pay of over 50 million if it were to be at the door following a possible sale.
THE DEFEATS OF THE YAHOO-RACE
Verizon, with a market capitalization of $210 billion and about $5 billion in liquid assets, prevailed in the race for Yahoo over groups such as private equity firms Bain Capital, Vista Equity Partners, TPG and Advent International. Dan Gilbert, the founder of Quicken Loans, was also left dry-mouthed, while telecommunications giant At&t, which only entered the race later than the others, was never really in the game.
FLICKR, TUMBLR AND MORE: HERE'S WHO JOINS THE VERIZON FAMILY
With the operation, Verizon greatly strengthens its online content portfolio, adding for example sites such as Yahoo Finance, Sports and News, but also the search engine, the e-mail service, the Flickr image platform and Tumblr blog. All purchases that should yield thanks to new advertisements.
BUT GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK STAY AWAY
In any case, even after the acquisition of Yahoo's assets, Verizon continues to lag behind giants like Google and Facebook, which catalyze more than half of the $69 billion digital advertising market. But Verizon's intention is to get back on top and challenge the two giants.
THE WALL STREET REACTION
On the Nasdaq, the index of leading technology stocks, Yahoo shares dropped 2,1% to 38,58 dollars, while Verizon shares dropped by 0,2% to 55,87 dollars.
