Verizon concludes the $4.5 bn takeover deal of Yahoo

The Dollar Business Bureau 

Telecommunication conglomerate Verizon concluded the $4.5 billion deal of Yahoo’s takeover on Tuesday, ending the web company’s 21-year history as an independent entity.

The deal also brings to an end the  5-year rule of Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer, who is not joining the new company.

She will take a compensation package presently worth around $127 million that includes severance pay and stock awards which will be fully conferred with the completion of deal.

The properties of Yahoo including its email, finance and Tumblr will be joined with AOL, which Verizon purchased in 2015. The joint corporate entity covering over 50 media, advertising and technology brands will now be called Oath. The new entity will be led by Tim Armstrong, the former chief executive of AOL.

The deal was finalised after Yahoo agreed to accept a price cut of $350 million on the original deal of $4.8 billion when millions of Yahoo’s user accounts were impacted by the cyber-attacks.

The merger of Yahoo and AOL is an attempt by Verizon to create a third alternative in the internet advertising market, to compete with Facebook and Google.

“Now that the deal is closed, we are excited to set our focus on being the best company for consumer media, and the best partner to our advertising, content and publisher partners,” Armstrong said in a statement.

“We’re creating the future of brands by utilising powerful technology, differentiated data and trusted content. We have been dominating the customer brands in news, finance, sports, tech, lifestyle and entertainment, along with our market leading platforms for advertising technology,” he said.