The owner of the Daily Mail newspaper is in talks with other parties about a bid for the struggling US internet company Yahoo.<\/p>\n
A spokesman said discussions were “at a very early stage” and there was no certainty a deal would take place.<\/p>\n
The Wall Street Journal, where it was first reported, said the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) was discussing an offer with private equity firms.<\/p>\n
Yahoo is under pressure from shareholders to turn itself around.<\/p>\n
The activist hedge fund investor Starboard Value recently called for the replacement of the entire board at the loss-making company.<\/p>\n
The spokesman for Daily Mail said: “Given the success of DailyMail.com and Elite Daily we have been in discussions with a number of parties who are potential bidders.<\/p>\n
“Discussions are at a very early stage and there is no certainty that any transaction will take place.”<\/p>\n
Deadline<\/strong> The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said that the potential bid could take two forms.<\/p>\n In one scenario, a private-equity partner would acquire Yahoo’s core web business with the Mail taking over the news and media properties.<\/p>\n In another scenario, the private-equity firm would acquire Yahoo’s core web business and merge its media and news properties with the Mail’s online operations.<\/p>\n Yahoo has set a deadline for 18 April for interested parties to submit their offers.<\/p>\n Time Inc is also reported to be weighing a bid together with a private equity firm.<\/p>\n ‘Long suffering’<\/strong> Richard Dunbar, of Aberdeen Asset Management, told the BBC: “[Yahoo] has struggled against Facebook and Google. Its sales have halved over the past 10 years. In contrast Mail Online has been unbelievably successful – the most visited English language news website in the world.<\/p>\n “It will be interesting to see whether the terms of this deal are acceptable to what have been long suffering shareholders at Yahoo.”<\/p>\n Yahoo’s shares have fallen by about 30% since the end of 2014.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The owner of the Daily Mail newspaper is in talks with other parties about a bid for the struggling US internet company Yahoo. A spokesman said discussions were “at a very early stage” and there was no certainty a deal would take place. The Wall Street Journal, where it was first reported, said the Daily […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":205842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nDMGT shares were flat in early trading at 695p after initially falling 0.4%. The company is valued at \u00a32.34bn.<\/p>\n
\nEarlier this year, Yahoo said it would cut 15% of its workforce as part of chief executive Marissa Mayer’s “aggressive” plan to return the company to profit.<\/p>\n