The UK newspaper the Daily Mail can now be added to the list of potential bidders for struggling internet giant Yahoo. While Verizon and Google have been grabbing a lot of the headlines about potential bids, around 40 other companies have reportedly expressed an interest.
The Wall Street Journal reported that early talks have been held between the newspaper’s parent company, Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), and several parties to discuss a potential bid. It is believed that they would team up with private equity buyers for such a transaction. Last week, Yahoo pushed the deadline for bids back by a week from April 11 to April 18.
The Daily Mail and MailOnline are celebrity-focused tabloids that attract around 14 million visitors per day. DailyMail.com’s digital ad revenues for 2015 totaled $104 million.
A spokesperson for the Daily Mail told CNBC: “Given the success of DailyMail.com and Elite Daily we have been in discussions with a number of parties who are potential bidders. Discussions are at a very early stage and there is no certainty that any transaction will take place. We have no further comment at this time. Further updates will be provided as appropriate.”
The Wall Street Journal outlined two possible forms such a bid could take. Under one scenario, the private equity partner would take over Yahoo‘s core web business, while the Mail would take over its news and media properties. Another possibility is that the private equity firm would obtain Yahoo’s core web business and merge Yahoo’s news and media properties with the online operations of the Daily Mail to form a new company to be run by the Mail itself.
Another company that is reportedly looking into joining forces with a private equity firm to bid on Yahoo’s core assets is Time Inc. Other financial parties considering bidding on Yahoo’s internal assets include Bain Capital LLC, Blackstone Group LP, Apax Partners LLP, and Warburg Pincus LLP. Yahoo’s online editorial products include Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News, and Yahoo Sports.
Last year, DMGT acquired youth-focused culture website Elite Daily for $43 million. The firm has been looking to ensure the Mail franchise’s digital future by aggressively focusing on online news in recent years. A former executive of the company has stated outright in the past that the paper wants to compete with AOL and Yahoo. Acquiring Yahoo would give them more data on internet users, making them more appealing to advertisers. Meanwhile, DMGT CEO Martin Morgan is expected to step down at the end of this year.
