Investors at the Britain’s Daily Mail (LON: DMGT) have been considering to buy Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), according to a spokesperson for DailyMail.com. However, discussions have just begun and there is no certainty about any transaction. Shares of both companies slightly rose after the Monday announcement.
Daily Mail, a tabloid newspaper and website, confirmed on Monday that it had launched a bid to acquire Yahoo!, said the Wall Street Journal. It appears that the Mail is part of a list of companies interested in Yahoo!, like Verizon Communications and Alphabet Inc.
“Given the success of DailyMail.com and Elite Daily, we have been in discussions with a number of parties who are potential bidders. Discussions are at a very early stage and there is no certainty that any transaction will take place.” Said the Daily Mail in an e-mail statement, according to Bloomberg.
It appears that Yahoo! is in serious negotiations, according to the spokesperson, further details will be provided soon. Bloomberg has reported that the Daily Mail will only purchase the American multinational technology company with a partner.
As a result, the Mail could acquire Yahoo’s media and news properties, while the partner assumes the Web business, said a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to Bloomberg.
Media owned by Yahoo! could increase the traffic of the Daily Mail in the United States, since Yahoo News, Yahoo Weather and Yahoo Mail are extremely popular sites in the region. Dailymail.com entered the U.S. market in 2012, emphasizing on celebrity news and teenagers.
Daily Mail sites in the U.S. and the U.K. are in the list of the most visited sites in English. At the same time, Yahoo sites are among the most popular in the U.S., ranking third in January with 205 million monthly unique visitors. During the same month, the mail had 75 million visitors per month.
It is important to remark that The Daily Mail will not buy all Yahoo. The Britain tabloid and its parent General Trust Plc announced a net debt of $1 billion by late January, explained Alex DeGroote, media analyst at Peel Hunt in London.
Rumors seem to suggest that Yahoo will explore the idea of selling its internet operations. During the last 12 months, the stock of the American company has decreased by 20 percent.
Bloomberg said Monday that Verizon is interested in acquiring Yahoo assets in Japan, while Google could also make a bid for the Yahoo’s core business. On Monday, Daily Mail rose 0.6 percent in London, while Yahoo shares rose 1.86 in New York.
Source: Bloomberg