Yahoo shareholders approve sale of core business to Verizon

Shareholders in internet group Yahoo approved the $4.48 billion (€3.99 billion) sale of the company's main web properties to Verizon Communications, clearing the last major hurdle for a deal announced almost a year ago.

The company said it expects to hand over its web assets to the telecoms giant on June 13th, according to a statement Thursday.

Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer agreed to the sale last year after a four-year turnaround effort failed to stem a slide in advertising revenue.

Verizon will seek to use Yahoo’s web audience to push deeper into content and expand beyond its central business of connecting people to the internet, cable channels and their smartphones.

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Widespread cyberattacks

Yahoo will become part of a new Verizon unit called Oath that will include media content and digital services like email.

Late last year, the deal was thrown into question after the Sunnyvale, California-based web portal revealed widespread cyberattacks during Mayer’s tenure that exposed hundreds of millions of users’ online information.

In February, Yahoo and New York-based Verizon agreed to drop the purchase price by $350 million (€312 million).

What remains of Yahoo after the sale, will be renamed Altaba. This includes stakes in China's Alibaba Group Holding and Yahoo Japan that are worth more than $40 billion (€35.6 billion).

– (Bloomberg)