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Yahoo scraps Dailymotion acquisition plan: report

Yahoo's plans to acquire a majority stake in the firm are reportedly dead in the water due to the French government.
Written by Charlie Osborne, Contributing Writer
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Tech giant Yahoo is abandoning plans to secure majority control over online video website Dailymotion due to governmental objections.

According to Reuters, plans to secure a 75 percent stake in the video site -- owned by telecommunications company France-Telecom Orange -- have fallen apart after the French government objected to the idea that "the country would lose control over one of its biggest Internet industry successes in such a deal."

Instead, the French government sought to persuade Yahoo in acquiring a 50 percent stake instead. However, this isn't a scheme the tech giant is willing to entertain.

Dailymotion was acquired by Orange for $170 million in a two-step deal; closing in January this year.

The deal could have been worth up to $300 million, and would have given the tech giant a more substantial presence in the European and Asian online video space, and a higher chance of being able to compete against Google's YouTube. Acquiring a majority stake in the video site -- which secured 166 million unique users in January and is the 12th largest in the world -- would have been a major stepping stone for new CEO Marissa Mayer, who has been snapping up mobile startups since taking over the firm.

Mayer, who has been in control for ten months, says that the future of Yahoo will be providing personalized user experiences both on mobile and desktop, merging advertising and experience, group communication and collaboration. Yahoo currently has 200 million monthly active mobile users, and the tech giant's app portfolio has between 60 and 75 mobile apps. However, in an effort to streamline the firm's offerings and bolster everyday apps to compete against rival app companies, Mayer plans to shave down the portfolio to between 12 and 15 high-quality applications.

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