Report: Yahoo getting closer to potential buyers
It's been rather quiet during the last couple of weeks as to whether or not Yahoo is looking for a new buyer.
Now it looks that the beleaguered search engine is closer than ever. Maybe those better-than-expected third quarter earnings did the trick? Maybe, but whatever
According to Reuters, based on information from unnamed sources "familiar with the matter," that Yahoo is finally cozying up to potential buyers, and that the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based search-turned-digital-media company has signed confidentiality agreements with several parties interested in a deal.
However, unsurprisingly, there have been some significant roadblocks. Reuters reports:
Some private equity firms have balked at signing Yahoo's non-disclosure agreement because of restrictions that would prevent them from forming consortiums, sources told Reuters last week. Indeed, at least five of the private equity firms interested in Yahoo have not yet signed the NDA, several sources told Reuters.
And the private equity firms that did relent and sign the agreement have heavily negotiated its terms, sources said, though it was not clear exactly what amendments had been made.
Whatever the problems are, they better solve them quick as the deadline is supposedly today.
Although there none of these parties have been officially named, supposedly (as mentioned above) several top private equity groups are in the mix, and even Google, Alibaba, and Microsoft have been involved in strategic discussions.
Microsoft was supposedly back in the running in October, and either way, the search agreement that the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation has with Yahoo is going to figure heavily in any kind of sale deal.
At one point, there was even talk about an AOL-Yahoo merger, which was just too unbelievable (and ridiculous) to be true.
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