Verizon buying Yahoo for $4.8 billion 

Yahoo, a name that is synonymous with the Internet was founded in January 1994 by Jerry Yan and David Filo, grew rapidly during the 1990s. Today many remember Yahoo as a brand that was once the iconic homepage for web users during that first decade of its existence. However, with the burst of the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s and the rise of Google and Facebook, Yahoo began a decline that eventually led to its sale to Verizon over the weekend.

With this acquisition, Verizon is planning to combine Yahoo with AOL, a competitor of Yahoo, which was acquired last year by Verizon. This latest addition to the Verizon family will offer its customers and advertisers more robust services in content and marketing.

“Our mission at AOL is to build brands people love, and we will continue to invest in and grow them,” said Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL. “Yahoo has been a long-time investor in premium content and created some of the most beloved consumer brands in key categories like sports, news and finance.”

What Verizon is banking on with this new deal is to emerge with one of the largest portfolios in the world of global brands with widespread distribution capabilities. This new combination will have more than 25 brands to further investment and growth.

The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, is subject to customary closing conditions, approval by Yahoo’s shareholders, and regulatory approvals. Until that time, Yahoo will continue to operate independently.

Source: Yahoo