Verizon CFO Says Would Explore Yahoo Acquisition If It Made Sense

(RTTNews) - Telecommunications giant Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) said Monday that it could look at buying Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) if the technology company is a strategic fit.

Verzion's Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said at the UBS annual global media and communications conference in New York that Yahoo's board and investors have not decided what they are going to do with that company's assets.

"But it is like everything, it is just like with AOL,we look at everything across the spectrum and if we see there is a strategic fit and it makes sense for our shareholders and we can return value, we will look at it. But at this point it is way too premature to talk about that one," Shammo said.

Verizon closed its $4.4 billion acquisition of AOL Inc. in June this year. The deal is expected to help the telecom giant build digital and video platforms.

Yahoo's board met last Friday to consider various options, including a sale of its struggling Internet business and a spin off of more than $30 billion in shares of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Holding Group Ltd. (BABA).

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is striving hard to turnaround the company, however, she still faces numerous challengers in order to bring the company back to a higher growth trajectory. Mayer has made acquisitions like fashion site Polyvore and blogging site Tumblr.

Activist investor Starboard Value LP, a significant shareholder of Yahoo, has stressed that the proposed spin-off of the Alibaba stake is not Yahoo's best alternative.

Instead, Yahoo should be exploring a sale of its core Search and Display advertising businesses as well as leave its ownership stakes in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) and Yahoo Japan in the existing corporate entity, Starboard has said.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that several potential suitors are emerging for Yahoo's core Internet business, from media and telecommunications giants to private-equity firms, as Yahoo weighs whether to put it up for sale. Among the companies that would likely explore a purchase are said to be Verizon and Barry Diller's IAC/InterActive Corp. (IACI).

VZ closed Monday's trading at $46.06, up $0.35 or 0.77 percent on a volume of 13.19 million shares. In after-hours, the stock further gained $0.02 or 0.04 percent to $46.08.