A number of reports (particularly one from independent tech news provider Recode) have suggested that broadband telecommunications company Verizon is set to buy internet company
Yahoo. Verizon, which has headquarters in New Jersey, United States, offers a wide range of services. These include fixed-line and mobile telephones alongside broadband and internet services. The reports have suggested Verizon has offered $5 billion for Yahoo.
Yahoo, which has headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, United States, was established in 1994 and is one of the Internet’s original success stories. However, the once dominant company has not been able to adapt to Internet changes as well as competitors like Google, and over recent years the company has been floundering. It turned down a $44.6 billion bid from Microsoft In 2008 and by 2015 it decided to spin-off its internet business into a separate entity.
While the company claims its web portal, search engine other related services bring in "more than half a billion consumers every month”, in February of this year the company announced it was to shed 15% of its workforce as part of its efforts to regain profitability.
While a number of analysts had predicted Verizon’s acquisition, exactly what the company plans to do with Yahoo is open to debate. The news comes in the wake of the company’s 2015 purchase of AOL for $4.4 billion. Some believe Verizon might run Yahoo as a subsidiary, while others suggest that it will provide a platform for a range of internet activities. It is reported that AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong will take the reins at Yahoo after the acquisition.
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