Verizon’s Yahoo Bid Sails Toward Rocks

Life for anyone involved with the troubled former internet titan, Yahoo, is continuing to get worse.

With a recent history of failed spinoffs, strategic blunders, falling market share, and a continual brain drain as employees jump ship to competitors, it now also seems that Verizon’s $4.8 billion bid for the beleaguered company that was once valued at $100, 000, 000, 000, is also floundering.

The latest setback for the Verizon acquisition is from further fall out from the massive data breach that occurred 2 years ago, when 500 million Yahoo users’ login account information was stolen.

While no one seems to now be disputing that Yahoo itself only realised the scale of the hack in July, exactly when in July they discovered the breach now seems to have come into question.

It was on July 25^th that Verizon agreed to buy Yahoo, lock stock, and barrel. But Yahoo only fully disclosed the breach to Verizon and the public at large in September.

A-Ha!

Quite.

Verizon may now appear to be using that fact as grounds to either buy Yahoo at a much greater discount than the near $5 billion that was agreed, or even call time on the deal altogether.

The company has reportedly sought a billion-dollar discount on its pricey acquisition. The telecoms company is now sending signals that it may try to scuttle the deal altogether.

A Verizon lawyer told reporters: “I think we have a reasonable basis to believe right now that the impact is material and we’re looking to Yahoo to demonstrate to us the full impact. If they believe that it’s not, then they’ll need to show us that.”

The news couldn’t come at a worse time for Yahoo. Research firm, eMarketer is set to announce a double-digit decline in ad revenue for this year, while on Friday, chief executive officer Marissa Mayer cancelled a routine results call with analysts.