A glorious era has come to an end. Couple of months ago Yahoo was sold to Verizon with $4.8 billion deal, Today company announced that it’s renaming itself to “Altaba Inc,”.
According to the facts, Altaba will operate as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. This is the part of the company that maintains a 15% share of Alibaba and 35.5 % stake in Yahoo Japan.
The multi-billion dollar acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.
Here is the actual scenario which must need to be understand before we follow news headlines,
- Verizon is splitting Yahoo in two
- Verizon buying the Yahoo we all know
- Yahoo (and likely Mayer) will still exist at Verizon
- The remaining portion of Yahoo is a holding company
- The holding company is being renamed Altaba
- Mayer will not sit on Altaba’s board of directors
According to a filing with the SEC, Yahoo’s board of directors will step down upon the conclusion of the deal, namely David Filo, Eddy Hartenstein, Richard Hill, Jane Shaw, Maynard Webb, and Marissa Mayer(CEO of Yahoo).
Only five board members will remain at Altaba: Tor Braham, Eric Brandt, Catherine Friedman, Thomas McInerney and Jeffrey Smith.
According to the report,
Marissa Mayer may be tapped for a role in Yahoo’s integration at Verizon, but her position has yet to be announced.
To facilitate the transition of the Company to an investment company following the Closing, the Board also determined that, effective January 9, 2017, Mr. Brandt will become Chairman of the Board and Mr. Webb will become Chairman Emeritus of the Board.
The Board also determined that, following the Closing, it intends to cause the Company’s name to be changed to Altaba Inc.
The security breaches may imperil the deal with Verizon. The company noted
“Risks that Verizon may assert, or threaten to assert, rights or claims with respect to the Stock Purchase Agreement as a result of facts relating to the security incidents disclosed on September 22, 2016 and December 14, 2016 and may seek to terminate the Stock Purchase Agreement or renegotiate the terms of the Sale Transaction on that basis.”
Yahoo! was one of the few surviving companies after the dot-com bubble burst. Nevertheless, on September 26, 2001, Yahoo! stock closed at an all-time low of $8.11.