Bids for Yahoo Minority Stake Value Company at $20 Billion-Plus

NEW YORK – Yahoo is looking to seal a deal to sell a minority stake of up to around 20 percent to a private equity firm or consortium by year's end, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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The online firm received at least three such offers by a bid deadline early this week, and Yahoo’s board is expected to discuss them at a regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, it said. A decision is eyed for before the start of the holidays, but the timing could change.

The bids, ranging from $16 per share, or around $20 billion, to $18 per share include offers from private equity firm TPG Capital and a group led by Silver Lake Partners and Microsoft, according to the Journal. It added that Yahoo is looking for a price that is a few dollars higher.

Bloomberg News reported that the Microsoft group offered $16.60 per share, valuing Yahoo at $20.6 billion. It said TPG’s bid was higher, but no details were available.

“The offer is disappointing,” Hamilton Faber, an analyst at Atlantic Equities, told Bloomberg. “Investors who’ve been buying Yahoo recently were hoping for a significant premium and a takeout of the full company, and this falls short on both counts.”

Yahoo’s stock had finished at $15.70 on Tuesday.