Both Verizon and yahoo reached an agreement on February 21 that has Verizon buying Yahoo after a cut of $350 million. Both companies agreed that the sale will go ahead as planned at a price of $4.48 billion after getting the approval from the shareholders.
Initially, the agreement between the two companies was made at $4.83 billion, but it was reported last week that top officials from Verizon were re-negotiating with for a price cut. Yahoo suffered two hacks over the past few years where personal information like emails, passwords and usernames of millions of customers was stolen.
Hacks give Verizon license to ask for price cut
According to experts, the hacks that happened during 2013 and 2014 gave Verizon a valid reason to request a price cut. They also pointed out that Verizon spent months investigating to assess the impact of hacks and found that only a few users left Yahoo after the incident. However, there are several court cases against Yahoo in regard to the breaches.
Verizon will by buying the core of the Yahoo operations while on Tuesday, Verizon officials said it will split the remaining portion of Yahoo with Altaba.
Verizon assures Yahoo email users
Verizon’s Director of Corporate Communications, Bob Varettoni, said on Tuesday that they are not going to make anything disappear.
He assured that Verizon will continue to support Yahoo email users. According to Varettoni, Yahoo’s customers and business are important to Verizon.
Marissa Mayer's future remains uncertain
After the announcement of the deal that Verizon is buying Yahoo, the big question is about the future of Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer. Mayer not only failed to turn around the future of Yahoo, but also lead the company into some harsh times.
With Verizon buying Yahoo, experts believe that Mayer will not be kept on at Verizon as they consider her to be a liability rather than an asset. Last July, Mayer had announced that she will continue to stay with Yahoo till the deal is completed. According to experts, Mayer will leave Yahoo wealthier than she was when she joined the giant.
However, some experts believe Mayer still has something to offer. She started as a software engineer and reached the heights of VP at Google. According to them, there may be some companies that still consider her as an asset.
Both Yahoo and Verizon are equally responsible for cash liabilities that may arise after the government’s investigation on the data breaches as well as any damages awarded in the civil cases. The process for Verizon buying Yahoo is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2017 after the price cut of $350 million is confirmed on Tuesday.
