Yahoo increases share buyback by $5 billion, puts $1 billion in debt on the table

Yahoo plans to sell $1 billion in convertible notes to use the funds to buy back additional shares.

The tech giant's sale will take place privately, according to the Associated Press. In addition, by adding $5 billion to its stock buyback program, Yahoo hopes the purchase will increase the value of its remaining shares.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., company spent $3.1 billion buying back 123 million shares this year. In order to raise the funds necessary to buy back shares, the tech giant sold a portion of its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. The repurchase boosted Yahoo's shares by over 70 percent this year, which has assisted the firm in the race to stay competitive against other Internet-based firms including Google -- while the company, under Marissa Mayer's leadership, continues to rapidly reinvent its online products in a bid to stay relevant. 

Against its competitors, growth patterns have begun to stagnate -- but the share program may be able to help revive the company's growth. Yahoo says the notes will be due in 2018, and interest will be payable semi-annually in arrears from June 1 next year.

Separately, at Dreamforce yesterday, an interview between Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer was disrupted due to protests. However, the CEO did manage to reveal that a head of design is due to be hired in order to make the firm's products more appealing to the general public.