Reuters/Denis Balibouse
The parent company of the British newspaper, the Daily Mail, is in talks with several private equity firms about a possible bid for Yahoo Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Daily Mail & General Trust PLC’s potential bid could take one of two forms, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter. In one scenario, a private-equity partner would acquire Yahoo’s core web business, with the Mail taking over the news and media properties.
In the other scenario, the private-equity firm would acquire Yahoo’s core web business and merge its media and news properties with the Mail’s online operations. The merged units would form a new company that would be run by the Mail and give a larger equity stake to the Mail’s parent company than under the first scenario, according to the Wall Street Journal report.
Bids for Yahoo are due on April 18.
Time Inc is also considering partnering with a private equity firm on a bid for Yahoo's core Internet assets, Reuters reported earlier this month.
(Reporting by Jessica Toonkel; Editing by Peter Cooney)