Yahoo hires bankers to explore potential sale

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO

Yahoo announced Friday it was forming a panel to explore “strategic alternatives” for its future, which include selling off parts of its business.

The beleaguered tech company announced plans late last year to spin off its main Internet business into a separate company, a move which would make Yahoo a holding company for a large stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

The company’s board of directors claimed Friday that they were looking into options beyond the spin-off, such as a sale of its core business. To assist in the effort, Yahoo has enlisted the services of several law firms and banks including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.

“The board recently formed an independent committee to conduct a process to evaluate strategic alternatives for the company,” said Yahoo chairman Maynard Webb. “We have hired excellent advisors and are working closely and in alignment with management to pursue an effective process. The board is thoroughly committed to exploring strategic alternatives while simultaneously supporting management and the employees in their implementation of Yahoo's strategic plan.”

Chief executive Marissa Mayer has struggled to bring Yahoo back to relevance.

While the Internet pioneer was a major search engine, messaging platform and content distributor in the late 1990s, it has largely been overshadowed by younger competitors such as Google and Facebook.

Earlier this month, the company announced it was cutting 15 percent of its workforce after a disappointing earnings report.

By the end of 2016, Yahoo is expected to have a global workforce of roughly 9,000, compared to a peak of 14,000 in 2012.

“As both shareholders and employees, all of us here at Yahoo want to return this iconic company to greatness,” Mayer said in a statement. “We can best achieve this by working with the committee to pursue various strategic alternatives while, in parallel, aggressively executing our strategic plan to strengthen our growth businesses and improve efficiency and profitability.”

Investors cautiously welcomed the news, with Yahoo’s stock rising 2 percent in afternoon trading.

The company’s stock has fallen about 40 percent since late 2014.