The list of potential Yahoo bidders is getting a little bit longer.
Daily Mail & General Trust, the parent company of British newspaper The Daily Mail, is considering a bid for the Silicon Valley company, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
The Journal reported that DMGT is in talks with private equity firms for two potential bids. In one, according to the Journal‘s unnamed sources, the private equity firm would acquire Yahoo’s core business, and the Daily Mail would take over its news and media properties. In another, the Mail’s online operations would merge with Yahoo’s media and news businesses under a newly formed company.
In addition to its search business, Yahoo operates a number of media sites, including Yahoo Sports and Yahoo Finance. The media business was a large part of CEO Marissa Mayer’s turnaround strategy for the company, and she has rolled out several digital magazines powered by Tumblr backed by star editors. In 2013, Mayer also led Yahoo’s efforts to recruit Katie Couric as global news anchor. But as the company has come under pressure from investors, she has pulled back on the efforts, shuttering video service Yahoo screen, ceasing production of Yahoo original series and closing down several digital magazines.
Yahoo began to explore strategic alternatives, including a sale of its core assets, in February Verizon and Google are said to be among the companies considering bidding for some of Yahoo’s assets alongside a number of private equity firms.
The Daily Mail, meanwhile, has pushed into digital through MailOnline and last year acquired online news brand Elite Daily. A representative for DMGT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yahoo shares closed Friday down less than 1 percent to $ 36.07.
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