Verizon Sells Yahoo To Apollo Global Management For IDR 72.1 Trillion

Yahoo illustration (Bloomberg)

JAKARTA - United States (US) mobile operator Verizon reportedly sold two of its companies, namely Yahoo and AOL. Both have even been assessed by Apollo Global Management.

Yahoo and AOL sell for USD 5 billion, approximately IDR 72.1 trillion. The sales process is rumored to be completed by the end of 2021. AOL itself is reportedly going to be integrated into Yahoo.

Verizon will not get USD 5 billion, it will only get USD 4.5 billion from the purchase. Meanwhile, the remaining 10 percent will be received in the form of Yahoo shares.

Whereas in 2015, Verizon bought AOL worth USD 4.4 billion, or approximately IDR 63.4 trillion. Then in 2017, Verizon acquired Yahoo for USD 4.5 billion (approximately IDR 67.9 trillion). The price of the two companies was purchased at a fairly high price at that time.

According to CNBC International, Tuesday, May 4, the sales value of AOL and Yahoo is claimed to be lower, so the valuation value of media companies under the auspices of Yahoo and AOL, namely Techcrunch and Endgadget, is said to have a lower valuation than before.

Until now, Verizon has not disclosed the reasons for the sale of the two companies that were successful in the 2000s. Based on rumors, Verizon was unable to develop an online media company, so they decided to concentrate on developing their own business, namely cellular networks.

Previously, in 2017, Verizon reportedly unified Yahoo and AOL under a new name called Oath. Unfortunately, the plan did not materialize after AOL CEO Tim Armstrong left the company in 2018.

Verizon has also sold HuffPost, its online media in 2020. In 2019, they also sold Tumblr to WordPress.com's parent company called Automatic. Verizon is also rumored to be closing its Yahoo Answer service on May 4, 2021.