Data Breaches Force Yahoo To Amend Verizon Deal By $350 Million

Yahoo and Verizon on Tuesday issued a joint statement that the two companies have renegotiated their acquisition deal. Verizon agreed to amend the purchase of Yahoo’s operating business. Under the new terms, Yahoo agreed to reduce the price that Verizon will pay for Yahoo’s operating business by $350 million, and both companies will share certain legal and regulatory liabilities that arise from the data breaches.
 
"We continue to be very excited to join forces with Verizon and AOL," Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said in a prepared statement. "This transaction will accelerate Yahoo's operating business especially on mobile, while effectively separating our Asian asset equity stakes."

A Yahoo spokesperson declined to comment on how the two companies came to the amended $350 million price tag, plus the agreement to share legal and regulatory liabilities from the breach, but she did confirm that the acquisition is still scheduled to close in the second calendar quarter of 2017, based on the fourth-quarter earnings press release.

The two companies now estimate the value of the acquisition at approximately $4.48 billion in cash, subject to closing adjustments.

On July 23, 2016, the two companies entered into a stock purchase agreement. Verizon agreed to acquire Yahoo's operating business -- search, mobile, social, video -- and a global user base. Some, however, since the breach wonder if that "global audience" still stands at 1 billion users, of which 600 million are mobile. The deal includes Yahoo's Gemini Search and Native advertising assets.

2 comments about "Data Breaches Force Yahoo To Amend Verizon Deal By $350 Million".
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  1. Henry Blaufox from Dragon360, February 21, 2017 at 11:13 a.m.

    It seems like the key to keeping the deal alive is Yahoo effectively shiedling Verizon from indeterminate future liability due to the data breaches. The price reduction is almost immaterial, it's so little.

  2. Joshua Rex from AP, February 21, 2017 at 6:44 p.m.

    Not sure in what world $350M isn't a ton of cash?  Expect Verizon to shave off more as further 'anomalies' are brought to light. 

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