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| Yahoo is back in the spotlight |
Verizon has agreed to sell its Verizon Media business, including Yahoo and AOL, to investment company Apollo Global Management for $ 5 billion.
Verizon will have a 10% stake in the new company, which the new owner will call Yahoo.
Verizon Media is the result of several acquisitions by the telecommunications giant, which aims to become a major player in the online advertising market.
In 2015, Verizon Media acquired AOL (the company owns several news sites including Engadget, HuffPost, TechCrunch, and Autoblog) for $ 4.4 billion and in 2017 Yahoo for $ 4.48 billion.
With these acquisitions, Verizon aims to reach large audiences more effectively and compete with Google and Facebook for digital advertising revenue.
After the acquisition of Yahoo, one of the largest and most powerful internet companies, Verizon created a new division called Oath to unify media and advertising companies.
By the end of 2018, Verizon had laid off more than 40,000 employees from Oath, canceled more than half of the division's value, and killed Oath as Verizon Media.
Over the next several years, Verizon Media publicly added the Yahoo brand while further simplifying its business.
The division achieved revenue growth, rising 10.4% to $ 1.9 billion in the first quarter of 2021. Advertising revenue increased 26%.
Verizon agreed to sell HuffPost to BuzzFeed in late 2020 and close the deal in early 2021. Tumblr, Flickr, and Moviefone were also sold.
It's unclear why Apollo Global Management is seeking to close this deal, but the most likely driving force behind this deal are Verizon Media's advertising technology assets, as well as various Yahoo activities such as email, sports, and finance.
Apollo Global Management said: “We believe in Yahoo's growth prospects and its leadership position in digital media, advertising technology, and consumer internet platforms. Yahoo has a proven track record in marketing. Investing in technology and media companies we hope to use this experience to help Yahoo continue to thrive.
Verizon Media attracts nearly 900 million active users from various brands around the world each month, including Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Entertainment, AOL, TechCrunch, Engadget, Ryot, Rivals, Manufacturers and Autoblog.