After months of speculation, it’s finally official. U.S. wireless carrier Verizon has reached a deal to acquire the core assets of struggling Internet company Yahoo.
In a Monday announcement, Verizon said it will acquire Yahoo’s operating business as part of a $4.83 billion cash deal.
According to previous reports, Verizon beat out four competitors in the third and final round of bidding, including AT&T, Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, Vector Capital Management, and private equity firm TPG, to snag Yahoo.
Verizon said assets in Yahoo’s operating business include a number of “premium content brands” in categories including finance, news and sports, as well as its email service, which had 225 million monthly active users as of January. Verizon will also be acquiring additional technology assets from Yahoo, including Brightroll, a programmatic demand-side platform; Flurry, an independent mobile apps analytics service; and Gemini, a native and search advertising solution.
The Yahoo assets will be integrated with Verizon’s other Internet acquisition, AOL, under Marni Walden, EVP and President of the Product Innovation and New Businesses, the carrier said. Verizon did not make any mention of the future of current Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.
Verizon said the acquisition of Yahoo’s assets, which come with an audience of 600 million monthly active mobile users, will extend its reach to more than 1 billion users between AOL and Yahoo.
“Just over a year ago we acquired AOL to enhance our strategy of providing a cross-screen connection for consumers, creators and advertisers,” Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said in a statement. “The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising.”
According to Verizon, the sale does not include Yahoo’s cash, its shares in Alibaba Group Holdings, its shares in Yahoo Japan, Yahoo’s convertible notes, certain minority investments, or Yahoo’s non-core patents, also known as the Excalibur portfolio. Assets not included in the sale will continue to be held by Yahoo, which will change its name at closing and become a registered, publicly traded investment company, Verizon said.
Yahoo will provide additional information about the investment company at a future date. Yahoo also plans to return substantially all of its net cash to shareholders. Details of that plan, including timing, will come at a later date.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, Verizon said. Yahoo will continue to operate independently until the closing, Verizon said.