The CEO of Internet giant didn't give much detail about the bidding process -the point investors were impatient to hear about
Yahoo Inc. is in a middle of selling the company and the board is actively involved in looking into the offers send by multiple bidders. During the company’s annual shareholder meeting held on Thursday, CEO Marisa Mayer opined that the Internet search company is making great progress and that personally Ms. Mayer has been very uplifted by the level of interest people have shown in Yahoo.
The Internet giant has been having sluggish growth for quite a long time now when finally majority of its shareholders demanded the board of the company to withdraw from their position. This however doesn’t happen but the company’s “For sale” sign was put out in the public. In addition, a couple of months ago, Yahoo added Starboard Value –the company actively involved in petitioning against the board –CEO Jeff Smith along with other two provisions on the board.
Publicly, the company announced about its sale plans in February however the bidding process started from the last few months. The prospective buyers of the company belong from a wide spectrum of industries. The bidders range from private equity to media companies. As at mid-June, the company still has three bids from private equity investors.
These investors include Advent Inventor and TPG Capital, along with a joint bid from Vector Capital and Sycamore Partners. Companies like Verizon Communication, AT&T, and Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert are also actively involved in the bidding race. The Internet titan is also considering on the sale of its patent totaling three thousand.
The CEO of the company, Ms. Mayer refused to go into extensive detail about the sale process.
Earlier, the Internet giant has been planning to look into spinning-off its stake in Alibaba –China’s ecommerce giant –however the thought was short lived and late last year the company abandoned the idea when it couldn’t succeed in getting a green light from Internal Revenue Service that the transaction would be tax-free in nature.
However, during her opening presentation, Ms. Mayer attempted to convince the shareholders by showing a list of metrics that underlined the growth of the company’s new products.
She was reported to have said, “I want to start by stating very clearly, Yahoo’s management team and our board are fully aligned with one clear priority: delivering shareholder value to all of you.”
By whom will the company get bought will probably be known in near future. As of now, at the market which closed on Thursday, Yahoo Inc. stock stood at a price of $37.56. The 52 week range of the stock is $26 to $42.
