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Yahoo is planning to make a comeback to the public markets, The Financial Times reported citing the company’s CEO Jim Lanzone.
Lanzone’s plan was to take Yahoo, one of the oldest internet search giants, to an IPO. The company was ready financially and has a great balance sheet and is profitable, Lanzone noted.
However, the top executive added that being a private entity enabled Yahoo to make required structural changes, developing a series of business units similar to the method used when he headed CBS Interactive, according to the report.
Lanzone came in after the spinout of Yahoo from Verizon in September 2021, when Apollo Global Management (APO) funds closed their deal for Yahoo. Apollo acquired Verizon Media, which included AOL and Yahoo, for about $5B.
Verizon (NYSE:VZ) had placed both companies under the ‘Oath’ brand as part of its strategy at that time to diversify away from its telecoms business into media, the report added.
Yahoo had also declined a $47B offer from Microsoft (MSFT) in 2008.
“While the company has had struggles in different points in time, we’re still huge in traffic, and we have our best days ahead of us product wise,” said Lanzone.
Yahoo recently bought sport betting application Wagr to bolster its sports businesses, the report noted.