Thomson ReutersMarissa Mayer, President and CEO of Yahoo, participates in a panel discussion at the 2015 Fortune Global Forum in San Francisco
The Daily Mail & General Trust PLC, the parent company of the British tabloid The Daily Mail, is investigating a possible bid for Yahoo, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.The company is reportedly in talks with multiple private equity companies about possibly backing the bid.
Yahoo set the deadline to place bids for its core business on April 18, according to previous reports.
The Daily Mail’s bid could take two different routes, according to the Journal:
In one scenario, a private-equity partner would aim to acquire the entirety of Yahoo’s core web business, with the Mail taking over the news and media properties.
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In the other scenario, the private-equity firm would acquire Yahoo’s core web business and merge its media and news properties with the Mail’s online operations. The merged units would form a new company that would be run by the Mail and give a larger equity stake to the Mail’s parent company than under the first scenario.
The Daily Mail is far from the only company in the running.
Verizon is expected to place a bid for Yahoo this week, while Google is also considering making an offer, according to a report by Bloomberg. The Bloomberg report said that Verizon would be willing to make an offer for Yahoo’s core internet business and its stake in Yahoo Japan. Verizon values Yahoo’s core business at less than $8 billion, it said.
Aside from Google, magazine publisher Time and private-equity funds Bain and TPG remain interested in making a bid, according to the report.
The company is struggling after a three-year turnaround effort led by CEO Marissa Mayer failed to gain much traction. Recently, the company put its core internet business up for sale, following pressure from activist investors to make “significant changes” to the company. According to a Re/code report, Yahoo’s telling potential buyers that it expects to see its revenue drop another 15% this year.