Private-equity firms Blackstone Group LP (BX) and Bain Capital LLC are reportedly in advanced talks with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Softbank Corp. about making a bid for all of Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), according to Bloomberg News, which cited three people with knowledge of the matter.
The possibility of a bid, which may value Yahoo at about $25 billion, or more than $20 a share, based on the co.’s 1.24 billion shares outstanding (float: 1.12 billion), was floated late Wednesday. At $20 a share, Yahoo, the largest U.S. Internet portal, would be valued at 24.1x earnings in the past 4 quarters.
Although Bberg’s report emphasized nothing has been finalized, the prospect of a new potential takeover prompted investors to bid the web portal’s shares higher. YHOO spiked more than 8% in extended trading to $17.01, valuing the company at more than $20 billion.
Yahoo’s PPS hasn’t topped $20 during the past 12 quarters. The co.’s shares have fallen over 5.5% y/y.
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