UPDATED 22:27 EDT / JANUARY 24 2017

INFRA

Yahoo acquisition delayed as Verizon fails to confirm deal will still happen

Verizon Communications Inc.’s acquisition of Yahoo Inc. is once again in doubt, with both companies saying Tuesday that the deal will not be completed in the first quarter as originally scheduled.

Yahoo claimed that the deal is now scheduled to be finalized in the second quarter, saying in a statement that it has continued to work with Verizon on integration planning for the sale of its core business but “given work required to meet closing conditions, the transaction is now expected to close in Q2 of 2017.”

While that sounds positive, the same cannot be said for Verizon’s response, with Chief Financial Officer Matt Ellis telling analysts on a call that “there’s been good progress, but we are still awaiting the final reports and therefore we haven’t reached any conclusions yet” about whether the acquisition would go ahead.

That rather ominous non-commitment relates to Verizon’s ongoing assessment of the financial costs of Yahoo’s 2016 disclosures of two hacks dating back to 2013 and 2014. The 2014 hack is subject to investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission because Yahoo admitted that employees knew of the hack when it occurred but the company sat on the information for two years before making it public.

Speculation that Verizon was reconsidering its position first emerged in December 2016, when it was reported that the company was exploring a price cut or possible exit from its $4.83 billion deal. The news comes as Yahoo reported improved financials in the fourth quarter with revenue rising to $1.47 billion, up 15.4 percent from $1.27 billion in the same quarter of 2015. Net income was $162 million, or 17 cents per share, versus a loss of $4.43 billion, or $4.70 per share, in 2015’s fourth quarter.

The figures for the full year were not quite as rosy, with Yahoo reporting annual revenue of $3.52 billion, down 14 percent from 2015 after deducting ad commissions. That was Yahoo’s lowest annual net revenue since 2004.

Image credit: schill/Flickr/CC by 2.0

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