Several private equity firms are considering buying Yahoo’s core business, as the internet company’s board looks for alternatives to an earlier plan to spin off its stake in Alibaba.
Yahoo’s board met yesterday to consider whether selling the group’s internet business would be better than spinning off the $33bn holding in the Chinese ecommerce group. Several directors are concerned the Alibaba plan could incur a hefty tax bill because US revenue authorities have raised serious concerns about similar deals, according to people familiar with the matter.
At least three unnamed private equity firms have looked at buying the operating part of the Silicon Valley company in recent months, according to three people informed about the matter. The business stretches from a search engine that has partnerships with Microsoft and Google, to Yahoo Mail and media properties. No formal talks have been held, the people said.