According to a Bloomberg report, digital media and magazine publishing organization Time Inc. is rumored to buy Yahoo’s core business.
The $1.5 billion publishing company Time Inc., whose publications include Time, People, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune, has heard a presentation from Citigroup bankers on pursuing a deal with Yahoo.
Citing the people familiar with the matter, a Bloomberg report said that “New York-based Time Inc. is interested in gaining Yahoo’s digital reach of more than 1 billion users around the world”.
Yahoo is struggling with its business, and in the last 12 months, the company’s shares have dropped 29 percent, putting the company in a struggling situation.
In the last couple of months, Yahoo investors have been pressing CEO Marissa Mayer to explore the opportunity to sold-out the company. Several technology companies like Verizon Communications Inc., which acquired internet search engine AOL and AT&T Inc, have already shown interest – Time Inc will have to compete with these companies for a merger deal.
Some sources pointed out that Marissa Mayer would not be part of that company if such a deal happened. Time Inc. is a smaller company than Yahoo, but it still has a perfect size, “such a structure to work,” according to some people aware of this matter.
New York-based Time Inc.’s print advertisement revenue has been declined significantly – that is one probable reason the company mainly transforming its business strategy by focusing on online advertising. This month the company announced it buy Viant Technology Inc., the owner of MySpace, to get more data to help sell targeted advertising.
“Marketers are selecting media partners that have either data-driven capabilities or premium content,” Ripp said. “We will be able to deliver both in a single platform and will stand apart from those that offer just one or the other.”
Time Inc.’s plan to buy Yahoo’s search engine business would be a way for Yahoo not to sell when the company’s valuation is near its low point.
