Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) may have more offers for its businesses, or the whole company, than it can handle.
The FT reports that China e-commerce company Alibaba may buy share its owns in the company. Yahoo! Japan’s largest shareholder Softbank may do the same. The buybacks could leave Yahoo! with $10 billion in cash. That may not impress investors who see Yahoo! as a low growth internet firm with very few prospects.
The FT writes
News of the talks over Yahoo’s Asian stakes follows protracted pressure from Jack Ma, head of Alibaba, to persuade the US company to part with its 42 per cent stake in the Chinese company.
Another option Yahoo! may have is that Silver Lake has made an offer of $16.60 a share for 20% of Yahoo!.
Bloomberg reports
Silver Lake is working with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and venture- capital firm Andreessen Horowitz to buy part of Yahoo
The offer from Silver Lake may be an insult to Yahoo!’s board. The company’s stock has traded above $15 over much of the last year. But, a minority position in Yahoo! is worth less than a controlling interest. Silver Lake would be at the mercy of Yahoo!’s board, and the possibility that it will continue a string of poo decisions