For an internet company from the early days of the web that is relatively speaking in decline, bids for Yahoo are coming in left and right. While Verizon is still leading the pack, a number of other possible buyers, including Disney, AT&T, tons of private equity firms and even the founder of Quicken Loans, backed by legendary investor Warren Buffett, are closing in on the company. Prospective bids are mostly hovering around $4 billion for Yahoo’s core internet business at this point, though nobody has locked in a final bid amount at this time and presumably, nobody will until all of the cards are on the proverbial table. Analysts are saying that an average of 3/4 of each bid is to pay off Yahoo’s debts, while the remaining amount is for equity. Reportedly, Twitter can now be added to the growing list of companies checking out Yahoo, though they have yet to state if they will offer up a bid or not.
The social network reportedly sent some of its higher ranking officials to meet with Yahoo’s people a few weeks ago to talk about Yahoo’s financial status and the feasibility of not only being bought by Twitter, but of a strategic merger to save both companies. While nothing was decided and neither company came away with a figure of any sort to report to the press, it’s worth noting that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey did not show up to the meeting. The reason for him not showing up was not stated.
According to sources close to the matter, Twitter had the meeting, then made their exit from the bidding pool. They can still re-enter, but this occurrence signals a strong possibility that Twitter was only looking to get information out of Yahoo in the meeting and was not looking to commit. Still, knowing what they now know about Yahoo’s fortunes, they would be able to make an informed bid, should they choose to do so. With second round bids coming up next week, it’s anybody’s guess as to whether Twitter will throw in their hat, how much they will lay out and how this will affect prospects for the sale of Yahoo’s core business.