Yahoo Schedules April 11 Deadline For Core Business Preliminary Bids

Yahoo has just set a bid deadline for investors who want to buy the company, according to a Monday report from The Wall Street Journal. The deadline is on April 11 when the search giant will entertain preliminary bids for its core business.

The Sunnyvale, CA-based company, through a letter, is requesting interested buyers to provide details of their bids with regards to financing, approvals or conditions that they need to meet on their end, and the most important assumptions they are making with their decision to go ahead with the deal.

With an April deadline for preliminary bids, this could mean a deal would be finalized by June or July, said the WSJ.

The Journal said that some of the investors might bid for the company's stakes on Yahoo Japan or Alibaba, while others might go for some of its parts or its core web business.

Marissa Mayer, current Yahoo CEO, is in a very difficult situation since she has not shown any concrete progress ever since she took over the company's helm in 2012.

The search giant was one of the most popular names in the internet since it is used by almost one billion people around the world for online searches. But lately, it has lagged behind its nearest rival Google, and has not regained its leading position especially in online advertising.

Last month, the tech giant started an auction for its core business after plans of spinning off its shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. was shelved.

Additionally, Starboard Value LP, an activist investor, launched a fight to unseat the entire sitting board. This hedge fund firm owns around 1.7 percent of the internet search giant.

Among the companies that are expected to make offers for Yahoo's core business are Time Inc., a well-known publisher and Verizon Communications Inc., a large telecommunication company. 

Smaller private equity firms are also expected to combine their efforts to make bids for smaller parts of the ailing internet search giant.

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