Alibaba Possible Third Bidder For Yahoo’s Stakes
Yahoo’s shares rose as high as $17.15 in trading when news of fresh bids from a third group broke out.
Microsoft, along with private equity firm Silver Lake and Andreesen Horowitz bid $16.60 per share for a minority stake in Yahoo, while TPG Capital bid a dollar higher. TPG is said to be in talks with Greylock Partners, a venture capital firm, for a possible alignment regarding their proposed deal.
The third party, led by Alibaba Holding Group, is said to be proposing a higher bid than the aforementioned groups. Alibaba, together with Softbank Corp,. is said to be in talks with Blackstone Group about making a bid for Yahoo. Alibaba hasn’t informed Yahoo about their intent to bid, as they prefer to be invited to bid rather than crash the party. Although Alibaba seems to be preparing for the bid, they are still not decided as to how much they would bid, or if they would even push forward with bidding.
“Alibaba Group has not made a decision to be part of a whole-company bid for Yahoo,” John Spelich, a spokesman for Hangzhou, China-based Alibaba said.
Yahoo owns about 40% of Alibaba and their interest in bidding roots to their intent in buying back their shares. The company is said to be in talks with international banks for a loan to aid in their bid, but Spelich was quick to refute the rumor, stating that “it is not true Alibaba is soliciting proposals for funding to acquire Yahoo.”
Analysts are putting Yahoo’s value at $20 to $25 per share since the search giant has great potential in the Asian region. Yahoo Japan rose as much as 6.3% in trading in response to the online shopping hype. Online retail shops are benefiting from the $1.2 billion Cyber Monday revenue, believing that they too would experience a significant increase in sales for the holiday season. Investors seem to be thinking the same thing, and could be one reason behind Softbank’s intent to acquire shares of Yahoo Japan.
“The report triggered some investors to buy companies like Yahoo,” said Kenichi Hirano, general manager and strategist at Tachibana Securities Co. in Tokyo.
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